The Adventure Of A Lifetime
by Fantaticnatic
Summary: Dib decides to leave earth for good. It didn't need him. But where would he go? What would happen? It didn't surprise him much when he realized he had a travel buddy. Rated T for: language, violence, may eventually turn into ZaDR.
1. Chapter 1

"Clothes. Yeah. Food and water enough to last a lifetime?" Dib sighed and put down his checklist.

He slumped into the wooden chair in his garage.

Looking out into his backyard, he saw a squirrel and smiled. It was burying a nut. For a moment it seemed unaware of anything around it, as if hiding that nut were it's sole purpose in life. Then it looked around and ran up a tree. Dib would miss the beautiful wildlife here.

He watched the trees sway in the wind and the clouds float by. He'd miss those too.

Dib stood and ran his fingers over the wing of Tak's rebuilt ship. It was now blue and silver, it was bigger, and the language in English. Dib had modified it for his own and he was definitely proud of it. The warm sun shone on his face. He smiled sadly again, he'd miss that one and only sun.

"GIR, get back here this minute. Obey your master, you pile of scrap metal! GIR!"

Dib wasn't sure if he'd miss THAT.

He turned his head to the right where he saw Zim, disguisless, on his PAK legs. He was chasing Gir, who ran very fast for such a short-legged robot. No matter how annoying it was, it never got old.

Dib chuckled solemnly. Yeah, he'd miss them too.

Dib turned his back on the pair and continued checking his list, packing the things away in the cargo hold of the ship that he checked off. It was funny how no one thought his ship suspicious. It was as big as his backyard itself and as tall as his two-story house.

He'd leave tonight, he decided. He begun to write a goodbye note to his dad and Gaz.

"Dib-filth! What have you done to this ship!? And what are you doing?" Zim asked from behind Dib, startling him.

Dib sighed and smiled weakly at Zim.

"I'm leaving, Zim."

"What does the Dib mean 'leaving'?"

"I'm going somewhere else. I'm tired of this place, these people. Besides, my whole life I've wanted to travel the stars and now…" Dib's eyes and throat stung. He swallowed dryly. "I'm finally doing it."

"But why?"

"Because, Zim!" Dib yelled, lunging at Zim. "No one cares about me here! No one." He laughed bitterly at the goodbye note he had been writing, crumpled it up, and threw it on the garage floor.

"But what if I destroy your precious mud-ball when you leave?" Zim taunted snidely.

"You've never even got close to destroying earth. Besides, you know your mission was a fake." Dib shrugged.

Zim looked angry, he opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't think of anything to say.

"Come on, Zim. This charade has been going on 10 years too long. Earth doesn't need me. And you - well I don't know about you." Zim stared at Dib, dumbstruck and speechless. Gir appeared from behind Zim, looking unnaturally sad. "Is the big-headed boy leavin' fur ever?" Dib feigned happiness for the sake of the little robot and knelt down to his level. "I'm afraid so, little buddy." He patted Gir's head. "You take good care of Zimmy-boy, got me?" Gir shook his head vigerously, once again happy. "Good." he said as he stood straight. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I need to be ready to take off tonight."


	2. Chapter 2

When Dib turned back around, Zim and GIR were long gone.

He had finished his packing, making sure he had his telescope and laptop. He had messaged Agent Darkbooty that he was leaving for good and would not contact them again, but he hadn't replied yet. Carefully he had packed all his Mysterious Mysteries things in a box…well, 8 boxes to be exact…and after much debating, he decided to leave it all behind. All the notes he had taken, pictures he had collected, tapes he had recorded - he noticed how everything was mostly Zim related and thought himself a bit creeper-ish, he'd leave them here. 10 years of his life.

As he stepped on his ship and the sunset lit the earth in a beautiful orange glow, Dib realized he left a piece of him in those boxes. His memories, his laughs, his countless hours of hard work, his entire childhood. Could he so easily be okay with this? Dib wondered if this was how Zim felt when he left his home planet. Probably not.

"Dib!" Dib jumped when he heard his name. He looked toward the direction the screech came from, inside the garage. He saw his sister, Gaz, on her GameSlave as always, with a sour expression on her face.

"Gaz!" Dib shouted back hopefully. Was she here to say he should stay? That she was sorry for never listening to him?

"Stop playing in your stupid tin can and get your skinny ass in here, dinner's ready." Dib, disappointed, let his gaze and his smile drop heavily. He wondered if he was even surprised at his sister's words. She'd said that sort of stuff to him his whole life. "Yeah…I'll be there in a few." She turned to the door, never looking up from the small screen. "Moron." Gaz mumbled and slammed the garage door behind herself.

Of course, Dib wouldn't be there.

Dib shut the metal hatch of his ship. Looking around the interior of his vessel he decided he could definitely get used to living here. It looked so futuristic-y and cool with his own Dib-y touch. Even though the base floor was only as big as a large living room, the high roof and the only other things on this floor, which was his pilot's chair and a small table with two chairs, made his ship look very spacious indeed. There was an glass-encased personel lift - basically and elevator - on the back wall, that would be taking him to either the storage room, or his room.

"Eva?" Dib called out. He had installed an AI computer in his ship much like Zim's, except this one would listen to him 24/7.

"Yes, sir?" The metallic, feminine voice replied.

"Get the ship's engines warmed up, we'll be leaving in 10."

"Yes, right away, sir." Instantly the ship started quietly humming.

Dib smiled and sat down in his comfy pilot's chair. He propped his feet up on the dashboard and leaned back. Dib enjoyed the respect and the use of the word "sir" he was getting from his ship. Even though it was just a computer, it was still really nice.

Dib was lost in thought when his mind ran across something alarming. Dib realized he didn't know the first thing about traveling space. He ran his hand over his hair-scythe, a habit he he had developed when he was nervous.

"Uhh…Eva?"

"Yes sir?"

"You know how to…erm…navigate space, right?" He asked a bit embarassed. The pilot can't even pilot.

"Yes sir, I am equipped with almost all knowledge there is to know. Do not worry, sir."

Dib sighed a sigh of relief. Damn, why didn't he study this stuff at all? What was I thinking? 'Hur dur, less jus go to outah space an hope I can steer the damn thing!' Utterly foolish of himself. But with Eva's help it should be okay…right…?

Eva interrupted Dib's thought process with: "3 minutes until launch, sir."

Dib started to tug at his hair-scythe, now extremely nervous. Already? This was a big freaking deal, maybe he didn't want to leave. Maybe he was just being irrational and over dramatic. His stomach started to get uneasy. But no, Dib had made up his mind, no way he would chicken out now. He stood and paced the shiny, white, linoleum floor. Like always, he was over thinking things.

"T minus one minute 'til launch, sir, I advise you to sit and buckle up." The engines rumbled louder. Dib panicked and almost tripped as he flung himself into his chair. His heart started beating quicker. He fumbled with his buckle and finally got it locked.

"Initializing final countdown. T minus 10…9…8…" Dib's heart beat faster with each number Eva called out. How would it feel? Like a roller-coaster?

Dib couldn't handle roller-coasters too well at all. He almost vomited and passed out each time he tried one. Dib remembered one time in Skool, they had went to a theme park as a field trip. Dib wanted to make Zim mad, so he challenged him to a roller-coaster ride to see who wouldn't throw up. Of course, Zim being himself, would stand up to any challenger. When they got to the front, they told Zim he was too short to ride, and Dib had a full-out minute of laughing at him. This had been Dib's plan all along, but then he realized he still had to get on. He almost pissed his 10 year old pants.

Looking back at that memory, Dib would have laughed...If he wasn't about to die. Which he was.

"7…6…5…" His hands started to sweat and ache he was clinging to his seat so hard. He tried to take deep breaths, maybe he was just overreacting? He does that a lot…

"4…3...2…" Nope! Nope! Fucking nope! Dib braced himself and shut his eyes tight, his stomach did cartwheels. He didn't want to do this anymore. Dib wanted out. NOW.

"1…Lift off."

"AAAAHHHHhhhh…?" Dib opened his eyes. They weren't moving.

"Eva, aren't we supposed to b-" And then they liften off.

They were going very, very fast, Dib could tell. He kept his eyes and mouth shut, for fear of biting his tongue from all the rumbling. Dib decided it wasn't as bad as a roller-coaster. It was 10 million times worse. All of his body was being crushed in his seat by gravity. It was as if earth really didn't want Dib to leave. He felt like his skin was going to be ripped right off his skull as they broke through the atmosphere. Why was she going STRAIGHT UP!? She couldn't have made it easier on him?

Very quickly, the earth let go of Dib, and his organs slowly returned to their natural position.

It took about 5 minutes for Dib to be able to pry his rigid, sore limbs off his chair, but he didn't open his eyes yet. That was the worst experience of his life.

"Sir? You may move around the ship now, do you need assistance with your seat belt?"

"No! Urm - no, no, I'll stay here for a while. Thank you."

"Yes sir."

Dib had a horrid headache. He felt very sick to his stomach and tried his utmost to keep his intestines inside himself. He unbuckled and finally got up the courage to open his eyes.

Immediately he jumped off his chair and leaned on the dashboard, getting close to the windshield as possible. "Wow." was all Dib could mutter as he stared slack-jawed into the vastness of space.

The stars were much more big and beautiful out here! So much better than the view on earth! And space! Wow! It is so big! And deep! Wow, is that an asteroid? Fascinating! Oh boy, there's earth! Wow! And the sun! So bright!

Dib was so busy admiring the outside it took him a minute to realize there was a flashy red light going off and several sirens as well. He cringed back and asked Eva what happened.

"Sir, I advise you not to lean on the dashboard. It is touch operated and highly sensitive." She said, almost sounding like a mother. She shut off the flashy lights and sirens. "Don't lean on the dashboard. Right, thanks." Dib grinned wildly. He was actually out here. In space. There was so much to discover, where would he start? "Eva, I want to go to Saturn!" He decided.

"Yes sir, right away."

xxxxx

Dib quickly discovered, once you've seen one star, you've seen them all. It had been a day and a half now, still traveling to Saturn. Eva assured him they were going literally thousands of miles an hour, but Dib couldn't believe it.

Dib was spread on his stomach, just laying on his white floor. It was cold, but it had warmed up from his body heat, so he wiggled over every 5 minutes. He let out a big sigh.

"Eva?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I'm bored."

"I'm sorry, sir."

Dib sighed a frustrated sigh.

"Perhaps I can suggest we go out of the galaxy instead of to Saturn?"

"Why? Wouldn't it take longer?"

"No sir. We could space-warp there, which would let us go extremely fast and make us end up somewhere entirely new in a day's time."

Dib sat up, interested. Space-warp, hmm?

"Why couldn't we just do that and go to Saturn?"

"We would risk setting off a planet's course, or possibly destroying it altogether. The space-warp creates a very large void of dark energy, allowing travel almost incomprehensibly fast, but the entry point and exit location need to be a good distance from each other. Since the dark energy travels in a spiral-like movement, it creates a sort of tunnel, or tube. If too much dark energy is concentrated in one location, it may push several objects in space aside, or it may explode with us inside. Using a space-warp is very costly in energy, and we must wait a certain period of time before using one again in the same general area."

This was a lot of information, and Dib was happily soaking it up like a sponge.

"Alright. I get it. But, I just want to see Saturn, and then we'll space-warp to wherever the hell we'll end up."


	3. Chapter 3

Dib could almost purr with delight. His ship had offered to give him a massage, and Dib accepted gladly. It was the most wonderful sensation he had ever felt.

"I'm so glad I went through with this." he mummbled to himself happily. Propping his chin up on his wrists, Dib smiled lazily at nothing in particular. "Eva? How long until we get to Saturn?"

"Approximately 3 hours, sir."

"Finally. And thanks for this, it's really nice."

"Your welcome, sir." Eva replied. It seemed as if a small amount of happiness had crept into her monotone voice. Maybe it was just Dib, but he believed Eva did have her own personality. He pondered this while four of her dainty, metallic hands worked out all the kinks and knots in his back. After a minute, she pulled her hands away and back unto the ceiling.

"Sir, there is an Irken ship demanding to connect with yours so the pilot may come aboard. He claims to know you." Dib rose reluctantly off of his table and sleepily rubbed his eyes, not really understanding what she had said. "Who is it?"

"Incoming video transmission from the pilot, would you like to accept?"

"Yeh." Dib replied. He stood beside his chair and waited for the pilot to appear.

Big magenta eyes took up his entire windshield (the windshield acted as a giant monitor), Dib jumped back a little. Not too surprisingly he immediately knew who it was. "Zim." he mummbled, still groggy. "Whadayawant?" Zim backed away from the camera and sat in his own chair. Dib saw his antennae twitching every so often.

"Dib-smell! Let me on your ship! Zim DEMANDS this!"

"No, Zim. Go. Away."

"Fine." Zim cut the transmission and it was silent. No way, it was that easy?

Of couse…this was Zim we were talking about.

Suddenly his ship jarred to the right. Dib, becoming very frantic, latched onto his chair so he wouldn't be thrown to the floor. "Eva, what's going on!?" Did Zim shoot his ship? Was everything okay?

"Invader Zim is boarding us, sir."

Fuck.

xxxx

After the normal yelling and screaming at each other (and arguing about if Dib had the right to walk around his ship half naked - which he did), the two boys settled down.

Dib was secretly thankful to see Zim, he knew about traveling space with first hand experience, and perhaps if he was willing, he could teach Dib about navigating space. Dib was also happy Zim was here, it wouldn't be so boring with him around.

He played his music loudly in his ship and hummed to the tune as he reclined in his pilot's chair. It was nice not having Gaz yelling at him to turn it off. Gaz…he wondered if she had even noticed he was gone.

Zim was in his ship, accompanied by GIR and Minimoose, doing God-knows-what. Zim had connected his ship to Dib's with a sort of tube/bridge thing. This had only worked because they were both Irken ships. The tube extended from one door to the other, locking in place around the rim of the door. This allowed easy travel between both ships.

There was about 10 minutes until they were able to land on Saturn, but Dib could see the massive planet from here. It looked just like the picture, only a lot bigger.

Dib lowered the volume of his music when his short Irken friend entered his ship and plopped in one of his chairs. "Need something, Zim?" Dib asked, making it obvious he didn't really want him in here.

"Zim needs NOTHING!"

"God DAMN, do you have to yell? I'm RIGHT HERE!"

"Zim is not BLIND, IDIOT-DIB!"

Urgh, why did I like that Zim was here again? Silently calming himself, Dib pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to stop the oncoming headache.

"Why did you even leave earth, Zim? Weren't you going to destroy it?" Dib asked, actually very curious about that.

Zim was quiet for a moment. He seemed to be planning out what to say, and then shook his head slightly, his antennae lowered for a moment. Then he quickly snapped, "That's none of your bubblegum, Dib-shit." Bubblegum? Didn't he mean beeswax? Ah whatever, I'm not going to try and correct him. "Whatever. But at least try to be a little nice to me? I don't have a problem with you anymore. And just call me Dib for crying out loud. Jeeze." Dib sighed and turned back to his windshield. Zim was quiet.

They were very close now to Saturn. Dib admired the tan and bright orange swirls traveling around the planet lazily. The rings were gorgeous from afar, but up close they were just a bunch of rocks. "Sir, do you wish to land on Saturn? Otherwise, this is as far as we should go."

Dib thought about this. He would love to land…but he'd love to land on something worth his while. This was just a really pretty dustball. He wanted to see aliens. With their culture. And population. Dib wondered if any were like humans. Could they have pets too? He wondered if they had houses as well. How many species were out there in all…?

"Sir? Awaiting orders." Eva announced, bringing Dib back to reality.

"Oh yeah, sorry. Umm…nah. I want to go somewhere else now. Space-warp."

"Yes sir." Eva replied. Dib saw Saturn slowly disappear from his view to the right.

"We need to get a few clicks away from Saturn before we space-warp, sir. Please pick a galaxy to travel to, first of all." A large map appeared across the dashboard and the windshield. There were tons of galaxies on that map. Where should he go?

Dib heard boots come toward him. "You are going to space-warp, Dib human? Do you realize how DANGEROUS such a feat is!?" He asked, coming to a halt next to Dib, staring at the map on the windshield. "Eva informed me Zim, thank you." Zim folded his arms across his chest and raised his chin.

"Eva, what are the main civilizations in the other galaxies?"

"There are quite a few, sir. Getting to land on some of their planets will require learning about the culture and people there, as well as if their laws allow aliens to land." Eva switched the windshield screen to several pictures of the first race she had picked, the pictures showed things that looked very familiar. "That's Irk!" Zim shouted.

"Indeed." Eva said. "Irk is the birthplace of one of the most long-lived and conquering civilizations in the millennium. The Irken armada is also one of the largest and most deadly armies. Their leaders - whom they call their Tallest - and the most important of the race, live on the Massive…I do not recomend traveling here. They are not welcome of any foreigners." Dib was very interested in Zim's race, the whole thing excited him to his very core. He'd remember to look it up later. "Of course, even your Eva-computer-ship recognizes my race as the most superior by far." Zim said proudly. Dib ignored his statement and continued to look at the pictures.

"In fact, sir…" Eva sounded a bit like a mom who was about to tell her son his goldfish died. "Most of the largest and widely known races do not accept foreigners, we may have to downgrade the search to species less known."

Dib was a little disheartened, but it was still alright.

"Well, lets just find a good planet to land on then, eh Zim?" Dib turned and smiled at him. Zim took an involuntary step back, probably surprised from the smile and suggestion that he had a say in where they went. Slowly, and evil grin crept on his face. "And then," he mused. "We can destroy them."

"No, Zim, bad! We're just gonna study them. Learn about them."

"But Zim NEEDS to blow them up! For the Tallest!"

"No, shush! I won't allow it!"

"You cannot tell ZIM what to do, hyooman!"

"Oh yes I can!"

Dib tackled the alien. Zim yellped out of surprise and they started wrestling. But this time, they were smiling. This time, they were fighting for fun. This time, it was all good intention. This time, they laughed.

As Zim pinned Dib down under his foot and did a victory pose (he had let Zim win), Dib laughed as he thought to himself that perhaps this friendship would be a pretty good one.


	4. Chapter 4

**(Hi, guys! Sorry this one is a bit short. It seems that a few people like this, but I'm not sure if I'll continue it. Meh, perhaps. Anyway, please R&R [read and review] so I know I'm doing well. Thanks!)**

Dib tugged at his earring, deep in thought. He decided to pick where they should go tomorrow in order to get a safe distance away from the planets.

Now, as he tried to fall asleep, he couldn't shut his mind off. He thought about the possibilities of his ship exploding in the space-warp. He thought about earth. He thought about his sister and his dad. He thought about how many planets he'd get to step on before he died. He thought about Zim.

Oh yeah, Zim!

"Hey Eva?" Dib called, hands behind his head, staring at his bedroom ceiling.

"Yes, sir?" She replied.

Dib thought about what he wanted to ask first. There were so many questions he could think of all at once. He wanted to know everything about Zim's race. Then he thought perhaps it'd be better to ask Zim himself.

"Nevermind." Dib resolved. "Oh, did you lock down the elevator and dashboard systems?" He didn't want Zim or GIR to be messing with stuff on his ship while he was sleeping, since apperantly they didn't need sleep. That little floating moose…he didn't know about that moose…

"Yes sir, already done."

"Good…Hey, Eva?"

"Yes sir?"

"What time is it?"

"It is 11:02 p.m., earth time."

"Oh. Hey E-"

"Sir." Eva had never cut him off before, Dib's eyebrows hiked up in surprise.

"Uh yeah?"

"I advise you to get some rest. You'll need it for tomorrow."

"Oh. Yeah, your right. Sorry."

"It's alright, sir."

Dib thought Eva might have sounded a bit annoyed. Dib thought he thinks too much. He wanted a time where he didn't think at all, was there ever such a time? Not for Dib.

xxxxx

Dib woke up and checked his clock. It was only 4 in the morning. Dib never slept as much as he needed, or liked to, for that matter. He sighed and got out of his bed, figuring he might as well start the day since once he woke up he usually couldn't go back to sleep. He did his morning routine and went to the base floor. There he saw Zim sitting on one of the chairs surrounding his table. GIR was sitting on the floor, playing with some kind of electronic rubix cube. Minimoose seemed to be snuggling Zim's head. Or eating it…that moose gave Dib the creeps.

Dib sat down in the chair next to Zim. "Why are you guys always in my ship?" He asked, feigning annoyance. "Finally, you wake up!" Zim said as he threw his arms up dramatically. He made it sound like Dib had been sleeping for years. "Only an INFERIOR race like HYOOMANS have to sleep."

"You don't sleep at all?"

"Nope. Zim needs no sleep!"

"I dream about floooooowERS!" GIR announced loudly.

Minimoose squeaked.

How interesting. Dib decided now was a good time for all his questions to be answered.

"So…what is that thing on your back for?"

"Hmmm? Ah, that's my Pak."

A Pak, hmm…?

xxxx

Dib had learned all about Zim. His home. His people. Eating habits. His bodily functions and about his Pak. What struck Dib as odd was how Zim dodged his question about why it was "extremely rude to touch someone's lekku (a.k.a antennae)" and that made Dib all the more curious. Of course, they had just started off this friendship and Dib had no intention to offend his friend. He'd just ask Eva later.

Now the two were deciding on where to travel. Space was vast, and they could go anywhere.

"How about Blorch?" Zim said with a sly expression. "I heard the inhabitants are lively this time of year." he snickered.

Eva pulled up the summary of Blorch.

"Home of the Slaughtering Rat People!? Zim what the hell?" Dib stared at Zim in disbelief and Zim started to chuckle.

"Ah it was worth a shot…hmmm, I think Skoodge was sent there…" Zim started to recollect. "He's probably dead."

Dib shook his head solemnly. He could hardly believe how brutal Zim's race was to their own kind.

"In fact, sir. Many planets among the nearest galaxies are being taken over - or have been - by the Irken Empire." This had Dib thinking. How could he go anywhere if they were all Irken? Perhaps…

"Eva, we have materials on this ship, correct? Enough to make a few gadgets?"

"Yes sir, if I do not have everything you need, we can always buy things at various planet shops." Zim looked at Dib curiously. Dib looked back with a determined grin. "I'll just make myself an Irken!" And with that he quickly walked to the table, pulling out paper and a pencil from somewhere inside his trench coat, and began drawing blueprints for a portable holographic transmission device.


	5. Chapter 5

**(Hullo, my readers! Aren't weekends just fabulous? Here's more of the story if you're feeling a bit bored. Please tell me what you think, R&R! Thanks for the comments, ta ta for now!)**

"It's simple, Zim." Dib explained as he was working on his device, zapping the small metallic piece with an electronic pen thing. "This device will tear me down at an atomic level and rearrange my particles into an Irken's. Almost 100% authentic Irken from intestines to bones to skin. I have to go to extremes like this since your race is so foreigner-hateful. I'll just need a small drop of your blood…" he then looked up at Zim expectantly. Zim turned his nose up at Dib and looked away in a very 'superior' manner. "Fine, if the Dib MUST have a sample of Zim's incredible blood. Do it quickly. If it hurts…I'll punch you." Zim held out his finger, still looking away. Dib almost chuckled aloud, amused by how childish Zim could sometimes be. He quickly pricked Zim's finger and a clear-ish pink colored liquid came out slowly. Dib put a thin, flat, tiny square on it and it soaked up the blood. "Thank you very much, Zim."

"You should be absolutely honoured." Zim muttered, looking at his finger before slipping his black glove back on.

Dib inserted the chip into the device and continued to work on it.

"So…" Zim started. "You'll be an Irken…" Dib nodded, very busily welding another piece on the device. "You know you can just buy one of those on the black market." Zim said.

"I know," he responded quickly. "But I don't have any monies and I'd rather make it myself." Dib sighed and arched his back in a stretch. He had been working for 4 hours straight on this little device. Although it was taxing, he loved to do this kind of thing. Seeing it come together before his eyes made him smile. But Zim was getting him distracted with all his small talk. He had been getting on Dib's nerves since the beginning.

"How do y-" Zim started up again, but was quickly cut off.

"ZIM!" Dib said while slamming down the electronic pen so hard it made Zim flinch, his lekku lowering. He stared wide-eyed and innocent at Dib, who was obviously not pleased. Dib rested his head in the palm of one hand, taking the pen back with the other, and breathed out a frustrated sigh. Damn. He didn't mean to snap at Zim like that. "Please…" he said much quieter. "Be silent while I work."

Dib was ready for the onslaught of how it wasn't Zim's fault and Dib isn't allowed to yell at his superior, but it never came.

Instead, Zim said something that made Dib stare at him like he really was an alien.

"Dib-h…" Zim stopped himself and shook his head. He had apperantly taken Dib's request of just calling him Dib into consideration. "Dib. Zim is thinking that maybe…you are hungry? Humans seem to get on-edge when they lack energy…perhaps…you would like a snack?" Zim said this awkwardly, but Dib could see how hard he was trying to be nice.

Which is why Dib's eyes were as big as dinner plates.

He stared at Zim for a whole minute, replaying his kind gesture over again to make sure there was no hidden threat. After the 4th replay he still hadn't found one. "Uhhh…y-yeah…actually…" Dib hadn't noticed until that moment, but his stomach ached with hunger, clearly far past the growling stage. "I am hungry…thank you, Zim." Dib said slowly, giving a questioning look at the alien.

Zim quickly perked his chin up, along with his lekku, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Of course, you will give ZIM the snacks, too!" He demanded, slightly tripping over the first few words, making it obvious he was a bit embarassed of the kindness he had shown.

Dib laughed quietly and led Zim to the elevator, leaving his work on the table. They had been in the storage room - since the supplies were down there - which was dimly lit. He had brought down a little desk lamp for the table. Looking back at the table, his work, and the lamp, Dib could almost see some kind of metaphor…but he didn't bother figuring out what it could possibly be.

He pressed the button for the elevator and the glass slid open when the platform came down to the floor. Dib gestured for Zim to go in first, as he did with everything (mainly so that Zim wouldn't give a fuss about being superior to Dib and blah blah blah), Zim walked through the door, head high, arms behind his back, and a grin on his face. Sometimes Zim reminded Dib of Stalin. Or Charles Manson. But most times Zim reminded Dib of a spoiled child in need of attention.

He followed Zim in the elevator. "Base floor, Eva." Instantly the elevator slowly rose to the second floor of his ship.

Dib, after letting Zim out first, strode across the floor to a big refrigerator hidden in the wall of his ship. He made sure Zim wasn't looking - he knew the Irken would eat all his snacks if he knew where they were - he pushed a small button with his foot and the 6 foot panel in the wall opened to reveal piles of miscellaneous foods he had brought. He got a sandwich for himself and bags of chips and cookies. He pushed the button again and the panel slid quietly back into place.

He threw a bag of chips and cookies to Zim, who immediately ripped them open, and sat down in the opposite chair.

"-yoomin food ish shorrble." Zim complained, mouth full of a mixture of chips and cookies. Dib rolled his eyes and finished off his sandwich. He remembered something Zim had told him about what they ate. Pure sugar was the most rare and amazing thing few Irkens ever got to taste. Dib thought to himself as he munched his cookie. Zim really did deserve some sugar, he tried - and succeeded - not only to call Dib by just his name, but also to be very friendly. He deserved a reward.

Dib got up and went to the fridge again. He scooped about a half-cup of sugar into a little bowl and shut the panel. "Zim…" he said walking toward the chair Zim sat in. His lekku twitched slightly, so Dib knew he was listening even though he didn't respond. "I have a present for you." Dib smiled at how Zim's attention suddenly snapped to Dib as he sat down in his chair. Zim's lekku danced atop his head as his eyes widened.

"Dib…is that…is…" Zim had smelled the sugar and was now salivating, looking at Dib desperately. Dib held the sugar up for Zim to see, absolutely amused. "Yes, Zim, this is 100% pure sugar." He chuckled at how Zim swooned over the words 'pure sugar'. "P-p-pure…" Zim stuttered, his lekku going crazy. He started to drool. "Zim-Zim, wait." He had started making grabs at the sugar. "I'm giving this to you because you were NICE to me, okay? So this is my thank you." Dib gave him the sugar slowly, hoping that something clicked in his mind that being nice = getting nice things.

Zim slowly took the little bowl from Dib, staring at the white powder. Before Dib could comprehend what was happening, the sugar was gone and Zim was licking the bowl clean.

xxxxx

Zim was very happy after his sugar.

Dib had gone back into the storage room to continue his work, Zim insisted on being there as well. All through the time Dib was working, Zim sat quietly and content, not interrupting once. Dib thought maybe he should give Zim sugar more often. He was being very pleasant. Maybe he did learn something.

Finally after several more hours of work, and with much of Eva's help, Dib could stand and say with a triumphant voice, "It's done!"

Dib stuck the device in his ear. Zim watched Dib, cautiously taking a few steps back just in case he exploded. "I hope this doesn't hurt…" Dib muttered and quickly pressed the button. Dib felt a tingling sensation. This turned into a vibration. The vibration became more and more intense until it hurt. Dib could no longer see and he felt himself fall to the floor from pain. Everything felt wrong. He was scared, his stomach was upset, he could barely breathe, was this supposed to happen?

The whole process, Eva informed Dib a while later, only took a matter of seconds. To Dib it felt like hours.

Zim gasped at Dib and took a step back, shocked and a little scared. "What?" Dib asked groggily as he stood up, swaying slightly. His head hurt a little, and he possesed an odd feeling throughout himself, but other than that he was fine. Zim fell silent and stared at Dib with his huge magenta eyes.

"E-eva? Can you bring a mirror…or something?"

"Yes sir."

Eva's daintly metalic claw came out of the ceiling with a tall mirror, which she set against the wall for Dib. Dib walked over and his mouth fell open.

He looked like an Irken. EXACTLY like and Irken. Tounge, teeth, skin, fingers, even how skinny they were seemed to incorporate itself in with the disguise. It was absolutely flawless. He stared at his huge honey colored eyes, astounded. He even had a pair of lekku, like Zim, and they moved on their own.

"Zim! Zim it worked, look! It worked!" Dib jumped around happily. "Congratulations, sir. Your disguise is seamless." Eva praised, sounding a little happy. "Now we can go to…to ANYWHERE! This is great! Isn't it great!?" Dib waited for a possitive response from Zim, but all he did was gawk at him. Dib grabbed his hand and yanked him into the elevator. "Come on, let's go FINALLY pick a planet! I can't wait!" Dib exclaimed, joy overfilling his brim.


	6. Chapter 6

Dib still needed his glasses, but his disguise didn't have ears, so he decided he'd have to turn off the disguise and use it only when necessary. Zim and Dib decided - after arguing about who had more say in where they should go - that they'd visit a planet called The Striped Planet.

Dib looked at Zim dully. "It's called The Striped Planet, really?" Zim just nodded seriously.

Zim had said that an Invader, Invader Skutch to be exact, was sent to conquer The Striped Planet when he was sent to Earth. Invader Skutch was his colleague on Devastis, and Zim considered him lazy and feeble minded. Zim considered everyone this way as he reminisced to Dib about his Devastis days. Apperantly, that was where Irkens are tested to become members of the Irken Elite. Dib wanted to see this place very much. But for now, they settled on The Striped Planet.

Now, Dib was having a very vivid case of deja-vu. He was strapped in his pilot's chair, hearing Eva count down the seconds until they could enter the space-warp. This time, though, as Dib's stomach did cartwheels and his hands got moist with sweat, he couldn't close his eyes. He stared at the black and blue swirling void coming toward him. It was beautiful, all hues of blue swirled around the black hole sparkling like it had taken up the stars in it's pull, it seemed as if it were the night sky back on earth. But it was very intimidating.

"6…5…4…" Eva counted. Dib wondered if it would be the same as last time - a really bad roller-coaster. He hoped he wouldn't wet his 21 year old pants, because he was freaking the fuck out. Not that he was scared of the dark or anything, but that massive hole was going to suck him up and shoot him across space faster than he could imagine. He suddenly wished Zim was there to reassure him. Zim had to get on his own ship and disconnect from Dib's while they space-warped.

Eva counted down to the last of the seconds and Dib gripped his chair. Everything outside went into one blue-ish black-ish blur, and he felt a slight tug on his body backward. His ears popped and it was over. Everything came back into focus, everything was new in front of him. "T-that was it!?" He sputtered. He was expecting a lot more.

As soon as Dib stood, vertigo hit him and he gripped the chair for support, blood pounded in his ears. He blew out a deep sigh as it passed and he stood straight.

"Eva? Where's Zim?" Dib asked, not too curious.

"Invader Zim should be on us shortly, sir, although he may be a while."

"Why's that? Shouldn't he he right behind its like he was when we came through?"

"Sometimes, sir, if ships travel together in one space-warp, the tunnel may break off into a different direction, due to the strain on the space around it. Though it should be nothing more than a short bend."

Dib was thinking about things as he waited for Zim to return. He stared outside, trying to see if he could find the Striped planet. Far away above him, Dib could see rows of lights moving one direction, many moving in the other direction, some randomly, and several orbiting planets. Dib assumed they must be ships. There were so many, it made him nervous and excited all at once. He watched the ships go about their business like fireflies until Eva piped up. "Invader Zim is approaching to board, sir."

Dib beamed as his ship jerked to the right. He bolted to the door and waited for Zim to come through, literally bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement. Zim entered and Dib yanked him over to the windshield yelling, "Zim! Look at all the ships! Look! Lets go! Aren't they great?"

Zim pulled his arm out of his grasp, rolling his eyes. "Yes, yes Dib, Zim sees the ships." Zim made sure Minimoose and GIR were on Dib's ship before hitting a button that disconnected his own vessel. He decided it would be easier for them to travel on one ship alone.

"Sir, an Irken ship approaches. They appear to be federal, you will need to put on your disguise quickly. They will be patching through any moment now." Dib quickly ran to the table, shoved the device in his ear, and pressed the button and ran back beside Zim just before his windshield behold two Irkens that looked almost exactly alike. Both their eyes were half open, they looked very bored. They were a little fuzzy to Dib, but it wasn't bad.

"Names." One groaned as if it was a tremendous effort to speak.

"I'm a BUTTER!" GIR screeched.

Zim commanded Eva to take Minimoose and GIR somewhere to contain them, Eva obeyed.

"This is Dib. And I am ZIM." He said. Dib noticed how the two Irken's eyes widened slightly at that name. They started whispering among themselves, even though they were loud enough for the two boys to hear.

"Zim? Like…THE Zim?"

"Wasn't he banished to Foodcourtia?"

"Yeah. But didn't he escape like twice?"

"True…but no way that's Zim. Look at how tall they are! Zim was puny!"

"Yeh yeh, they are pretty tall…that one over there with the yellow eyes is kinda hawt."

Their eyes lowered down their bored, neutral position.

"Mmm…yep…okay, we'll let 'em slide…even if could be THE Zim." They snickered for a moment.

"Alright. Carry on. We've stamped your ship's signal with the alliance sign. Goodbye for now, Taller comrades."

"Buh-bye, Taller Dib." One winked just before they cut the transmission. Dib glanced over with a nervous chuckle at Zim, his face slightly warm.

"Why do they put 'Taller' before our names?" he asked, trying to forget the whole embarassing moment. "It's a formal sign of respect for taller Irkens than themselves. You must remember that." Zim said, driving the ship up toward the others. "Always address them as 'Taller' if they are taller than you. Do not speak unless spoken to - maybe not even then…" Zim continued to teach while he concentrated on navigating the ship among the others.

Dib tried to listen to Zim as best he could, but right now, he was a kid in a candy store. He squinted out the window at everything passing by.

"…Absolutely NO touching among anothers unless you have to, such as in busy streets or crowds - never on purpose…"

Oh wow! That's a big ship! This is like a highway! Ooh, that one is so cool. Oh, there's The Striped Planet! Wow, so many Irken ships! Fascinating! Oooh, we're docking! Wow, there are a lot of Irkens here! So many shops!

"DIB-SMELLY are you even LISTENING to ZIM?" He shouted it Dib's ear after they had docked. "Oh, err…yeah." Dib muttered.

"Then lets go. The Armada seems to have already taken over this planet. Looks like a shopping planet now. Just remember what I said and everything will go smoothly."

Dib hadn't heard everything Zim was saying, but he assumed it was enough.

The door of Dib's ship opened and they walked out into the open. Dib's heart almost burst with excitement.

The hustle and bustle noises and chattering hummed in Dib's non-existent ears. As far as he could see there were shops and tents standing in rows. They had colorful signs advertising what they had, although the were all in Irken. And there were TONS of Irkens walking in the streets. It was absolutely crowded. This place remnded him of a big carnival. Dib noticed how most of them were 4 feet to 5 feet tall. He was 6 feet 5 inches, so he was definitely taller than most of them. Zim was only a tiny bit taller than the rest, so Dib had to make sure he knew where Zim was.

Zim led him into the crowd and walked beside him. "So, Taller Dib, where would you like to go?" He asked. Dib squinted around, looking for something extremely interesting as they walked along. All of it was extremely interesting. So many people! So many places!

Dib's antennae perked up involuntarily as a huge ship passed by over their heads.

"Wow their so big up close…" he muttered to himself. Due to his not-paying-attention-ness, Dib smacked right into someone. The blood-red eyed Irken fell on his butt, and Dib reached down hurriedly to help him. "Oh my God I'm so sorry, are you okay?" The Irken stared at Dib like he had sprouted two more heads. He got up quickly on his own, bowed low to Dib, muttered "Forgive me, my Taller." And ran away.

Seeing this display, Zim walked angrily to Dib and grabbed his upper arm, sinking his claws in for good measure. "What did I tell you about that?" he hissed as they started to walked along quickly. "Oww, wudeyedo?" Dib asked innocently. He didn't think he had done anything wrong at all. "I TOLD you before we left the ship that you NEVER apologize to someone shorter than you. You barely even look at them." He hissed in a whisper so no one could hear.

Oops. Oh well. Sounds awfully rude though…

Zim let go of his arm in an irritated huff. "I'm sorry Zim." Dib made a pouty face. "Don't be mad. I won't do it again." Zim looked over at Dib and surveyed his figure, then turned away quickly. "Fine, Zim forgives your pitiful existence." He growled. "But on the condition that you will bow down to the ALMIGHTY ZIM and lick his superior boots." Zim smiled.

"Pffft, what? No way, Zim! Lick your own boots." Dib laughed loudly.

They say laughing is contagious. It's definitely true. On account of Dib's laughing, Zim started to laugh - an evil/happy laugh as usual. They laughed and laughed, even if nothing was funny anymore. Even a few Irkens around them started to giggle. Maybe they were laughing because they needed to. Maybe this was the only opportunity they had to laugh. Who cared?

They just laughed.


	7. Chapter 7

**(You guys are so awesome, leaving me such motivational comments! I'm giving you this short chapter AND a cliffhanger - it's because I love you, I promise. R&R, thank you for reading this far!)**

Dib got Irken candy, which was way too sweet for his liking. He went up to several vendors and looked at all the odd gadgets they sold. He pointed out signs for Zim to read in his native language, for the sole purpose that Dib liked hearing him speak all those odd clicks and hums. He ran into a few things because he wasn't paying attention. He ran into a few more things because he couldn't see them.

Zim, the whole time, was trying to both keep up with Dib and control him.

By the time Dib got back to his ship, he was exhausted. Slumping down in one of the two chairs surrounding the table, Dib took off his disguise and sighed with a smile. He shut his eyes just for a minute. Today was a great day.

Zim sealed the ship's hatch and navigated it away from the planet. After they were a safe distance away, Zim leaned back in the pilot's chair and swiveled around to Dib. "So, human, wha-" Zim stopped to discover a sleeping Dib. His head was drooped to the left and his arms and legs were draped over the chair in a very lazy fashion. He looked peaceful.

Zim growled rather quietly. "Eva, take your master to his room." He mumbled under his breath. "I will do that." Eva replied. She picked up Dib with her metalic arms and a hatch in the ceiling opened up. She started quickly raising him toward the hatch. "Gently!" he hissed at her. The arms stopped, then proceeded much slower than before.

Eva would never hurt Dib, and her movements were always precise, so that even if she moved extremely fast she would not miss the target - but for the sake of Zim's nerves, she obeyed. She set Dib down on his bed and put the blue blanket on him. He snuggled in on his own. Eva stroked his soft raven hair. Yes, she did have a personality of her own. She cared for Dib very much. Of course, in her line of duty she was to be only the computer and ship and nothing more. But now while their was nothing to be doing, she could try and comfort Dib in a way a mother would. Making sure his glasses were on the desk in front of him and he had enough blankets and pillows, Eva retreated from the room.

"Invader Zim," Eva said to the Irken who was laying on the linoleum floor, looking very bored. "Yesssss, what do you want with ZIM?" he huffed. "Your comrades are still in containment, do you wish to let them out?"

Zim lifted his face from the floor. "Oh yeah…" he had completely forgoten about them. "Yes, let them out."

He heard rattling, screeching, squeaking, and a weird elephant noise. Zim had second thoughts about letting them out, but it was too late now.

GIR rode up the elevator and barreled toward his master. Zim braced himself.

"MASTER IS MISS-ED YEW!" he howled as he started to sob dramatically, tackling his master.

"GIR shut the fuck up! Dib is sleeping!" Zim hissed as he tried to pry GIR off his leg. "Whoa! Were'd da PIGGIES go!?" he shrieked. Zim finally peeled the robot off him and hurled him across the ship. "ZIM demands that you BE QUIET THIS INSTANT!" GIR stood up and started bouncing and laughing like a mad-man. Suddenly, rubber piggies rained out of his head. "Oh Tallest…" he sighed. Zim recalled the time he had gotten rid of all those as rubber pigs rained down around him. Where did GIR get all of his piggies? Minimoose flew out in the process and clung to Zim's head. Taking in the surroundings with a neutral face, Zim wondered how he put up with his companions all this time. He was about to throw them out of the airlock.

The last of the piggies rained out of GIR's head, and he calmed down almost immediately. GIR took Minimoose off of his seething master and placed it on his own head. Then he walked to the couch and currled up like a cat.

"Ima go to sleep, mkay?" GIR asked cheerfully.

"Okay." Zim nodded. GIR's eyes went grey and Zim was thankful it was all over.

Kicking the piggies away from him as he walked back over to the pilot's chair, Zim cursed humans. "Stupid, weak humans and their need for sleep."

Zim was also excited to be back in Irken territory, even though he was no longer part of it. He wanted to go to all the planets as well, and he wanted to go now. This trip was uncovering a lot of memories - good ones at that. He found himself smiling often at them. But this was Dib's ship and all that stuff. Zim wondered where he would want to go next. Dib had said he wanted to go to Devastis, and Zim himself would love to revisit that place. It took him back to Operation Impending Doom I…

Zim decided at that moment that was where they were going next.


	8. Chapter 8

**(I'm sorry for the long wait - so here's a long chapter! Another cliffhanger, yes, I adore them. R&R, Thanks for following us on this adventure so far!)**

Devastis. A small planet, yet the most noticable of all. The planet is green and black, and it emits an eerie green glow, much like the color of it's sky, in the space around it. It is a cold, unforgiving, metal planet; covered in buildings and roads - not a single blade of grass to be found. With a gravitational pull 2 times stronger than Earth. Irken Soldiers come here for their final test: the test to become an Irken Elite.

The best of the best, the Irken Elite are trained and equiped for any situation. The Irken insignia is painted on their foreheads to show their loyalty to their race. Their armor is heavier than normal Irken soldiers, with two tubes coming from their PAK and into their chest. They were some badass Irkens.

Zim sat back and stared at the planet. He had caused a lot of havoc there. Sweet, sweet insane destruction. Zim recalled how he had completely forgotten he was still on his own planet. Of course, the navigators were all screaming at him, but the sheer amount of power he had in his grasp took his mind to a higher plain. Those cold leavers and glowing buttons under his hands - it sent a shiver up his spine.

Unbeknownst to Zim, he could have been Elite of the Irken Elite. The information in his PAK was so much that the Control Brains couldn't handle the excessive amount, therefore they deemed him 'Defective', a threat to the Control Brains themselves, and his PAK should have been destroyed immediately. But…it wasn't. And so lived on the infamous, defective, exiled Zim, in all his mentally insane glory.

Dib slept with his blanket around his head like a hood of a jacket and talked and wiggled in his sleep. Even after all these years his sleeping habits had not deviated. But tonight Dib was having a bad dream. He rolled on the bed, almost shouting, kicking weakly and balling up.

He was dreaming that Zim was dissecting him, carefully lifting every organ he took out up to Dib's face so he could see. Blood and knife and intestines flashed before his eyes. All the while, Zim had the most content, evil smile plastered on his green face, even laughing on occasion. "No, Zim why are you doing this!?" he shrieked in his dream as he was shown his own stomach. He tried to yell as loud as possible "Help!" but something wouldn't allow that word to come out. "I thought-I-th…" he had a burning pain in his stomach, the kind of pain you get in dreams that you can't stop. "What? You thought we could be friends?" Zim laughed as he took Dib's heart in his hand and held it up to his face. "Never." he hissed in a whisper as he slowly crushed Dib's most treasured organ. Blood started to spew as his claws dug their way inside, dripping out of his hand, slowly -

Dib woke up with a gasp. He clutched his stomach and waited for the ache to dull. He was sweating dispite how cold he was, and the adrenaline rushed through his veins and pounded in his ears. After several minutes of breathing deeply and assuring himself it was just a dream, Dib could calm down enough and relax. He got out of bed and put on his glasses. It was nice to be able to see clearly.

Dib was scared. He knew there was nothing to be scared of, Zim would never do…that, but for some reason he couldn't shake the fear. He breathed in deeply as he stepped inside the glass elevator. "Base floor." It felt like acid was burning straight through his stomach as the elevator rose. He jumped out of his skin when the Irken whirrled around in his pilot's chair and called his name. Adrenaline started seeping into his veins once again. Zim made a confused face at him, his antennae were pointing straight up. "What is wrong, Dib-thing? You look…frightened." Zim said 'frightened' slowly, drinking in the sound and thought as a wide smile grew on his face. An evil smile.

"I'm not." Dib said, straightening up. He walked over to the sleeping GIR curled up on the couch and stroked his back, trying to calm himself down. GIR didn't wake up, but a tiny smile formed on his face. Dib smiled too. Sometimes that little robot was cute.

"Well, it doesn't matter to ZIM anyway." he said, dismissing the conversation to start another. "Are you ready to go?"

Dib peeled his eyes off the little robot and odd moose thing and looked at Zim. "Where?" he almost stuttered. The autopsy table? A lab? Dib stopped and wondered for a second if this was how Zim felt when Dib was always saying he'd dissect him. Probably not. He ran his fingers over his scythe-hair, which he noticed had become more of a lightning bolt shape as it grew. Just like his dad.

Zim threw up his arms as if it were right in front of him. "Devastis, stupid human!" Then he gestured toward the windshield and Dib looked up.

He saw the most beautiful planet.

It glowed! Green! Look at the unnatural design! Oh wow! Dib walked over to the windshield - completely forgetting about Zim - and stared at Devastis. "Wow." Was all he said as he wondered how the planet was able to turn the space around it green. How could that be possible?

"Well, go get your-" Zim started saying, but stopped and narrowed his eyes at Dib when he saw the human cringe away from hearing his voice. "Dib." he said firmly. "Has ZIM done something?" he asked in that annoying, overly dramatic, curious voice that dragged out the 'ing' in a louder tone. "No, no you didn't. It's just I had this dream-"

"Bah, DREAMS mean NOTHING!…you dream about ZIM?" he asked suspiciously. Dib's face grew a few degrees warmer. He wondered what Zim was suspecting. "Well, every so often - but you're always dissecting me." Zim's eyes widened for a moment, then fell into their neutral one-eye-wide-other-eye-squinted position. He waved what Dib said away with a flick of his wrist. "ZIM would not do such a thing! Humans are too FILTHY for Zim to even want to touch!"

Somehow with that verbal confirmation, Dib relaxed. His fears slipped away finally. He sighed with relief and suddenly got his strength back.

"Okay, you start heading there and I'll get my disguise on." Dib said. Zim nodded excitedly and urged the ship forward toward the planet.

Dib stuck the device in his ear and pressed the button, now he had gotten used to using it, so he only felt a slight buzz in his body as it worked. Dib looked at himself,then wondered about the Tallest. "Hey Zim?" he asked, walking back over to Zim and his pilot's chair. Zim's lekku twitched.

"Why do your Tallest look like that? I mean…I'M tall, but I still have 3 fingers and I'm not super thin."

Zim chuckled a little. "Well. That is because you are not the Tallest. The Tallest must cut off their thumbs and wear corsets to look than way."

"Cut off their thumbs?!" Dib asked in astonishment. Why the hell would you do that?

"YES, this is what ZIM just SAID." he retorted sarcastically, maneuvering the ship onto the landing pad. "It's just a tradition thing." Zim added with a shrug.

He stood from the pilot's chair and looked Dib up and down. "Now then. We are going to act like we are here to observe for the Tallest. Strangers cannot just tour Devastis. So, we are very important and we need to act that way. And you, being taller than me," he looked away and snarled. "Are more important." Dib could see how pained Zim felt saying that. He almost chuckled. Almost.

Dib and Zim walked off the ship towards a scanner guarded by 4 soldiers. Dib walked the way Zim had told him before they got off the ship: Back straight, head high, chin up, arms folded behind his back, and always look and sound very displeased. Dib knew he was a good actor. He could pull this off easy.

"Greetings, taller comrades." A soldier with green eyes said in a deep voice. He was a tiny bit shorter than Zim, like the rest of the soldiers. He eyed them both. "Forgive me, but we were not warned of your arrival…" he trailed off, suspicion rising in his voice. "Not-NOT warned? Can you believe this, Taller Dib?" Zim scoffed in an exasperated tone. Dib shook his head in a disappointed way. "I cannot believe this. How UNORGANIZED can you be in a place like this? Tsk tsk, what would the Tallest think." he asked disgusted. Dib smiled as the Irkens cringed, visibly nervous. "I-I-I don't think that's necessary…" he stuttered. "Why…I think…" Dib looked down at Zim with a nasty smirk. "We should forget this suprise check-up and have the Tallest THEMSELVES come here and do a thorough search of every facility." Dib snapped his head high and turned on his heel. "That's just what we'll do!" he announced, waking away. Zim matched his pace, smirking at Dib. "You are good at this." he approved quietly.

"Wait, taller comrades please!" A different soldier called desperately. Dib stopped, but did not turn around. "There is no need for that, pardon our suprise at your appearance! Please, come in - come in!" They beckoned with fearful eyes. Dib sniffed at them as he walked through the scanner.

When Zim went through, the light flashed red and a siren sounded - a warning.

Dib kept his cool and made an expert decision. Quickly yanking Zim through, Dib spoke. "I DEMAND you turn those damned things off at once! We do not have time for this! By the Tallest I will have all of you fired!" he roared. While he was shouting at them, the soldier with the green eyes was frantically trying to shut off the alarms, not paying attention to why it was going off.

Finally things settled down and the soldiers turned their faces to Dib like whipped dogs. He was rubbing his temples, making the most annoyed face.

"How DARE" he started off in a menacing growl, rising with every word after into a scream of rage. "That scanner go off AT MY MATE!"

Oh God how they got on their knees and begged for forgiveness. It was basically taboo to trouble a taller's mate in their culture, and Dib struck the finishing blow.

K.O.

Dib made sure the soldiers gave them full clearance to everything and they assured him it would not happen again. "You'd better fucking make sure." he snarled.

After the two stalked away from the scene they started laughing. "That was incredible! Did you see how they squirmed?" Dib laughed - though feeling a little bad for doing all that. "Zim gives you applause. That was outstandingly devious." he laughed evily back. "But thinking of myself as your mate?" Zim made a dramatic 'bleh' face and Dib slugged him in the shoulder. "Knock it off Zim. You should be HONOURED. I AM TALL." he mocked good-naturedly. Zim laughed at him. "Not on your life, human."

"So, why did the siren go off anyway?"

"Well," Zim smirked. "I'm not exactly…LEGAL. Especially here." He smiled at the memories.

"Ehh…o-kay." Dib shrugged.

Dib's huge, honey-brown eyes drank in all the sights as they walked on. His antennae did their own thing like they supposed to without him noticing. He saw how almost everything here was black, silver, grey and green. There were tons of Irkens lining up to go in a very tall building.

"That is where they take the main test." Zim informed him. Supposedly, most of the other buildings were the initial tests. Dib really wanted to see inside, but Zim was against it. "If we go in there, they will most definitely scan our PAKs. And that won't do well since yours isn't even real." Dib agreed at the logical reasoning.

Everything was very military-like. All the Irkens walked in rows. None spoke. They looked straight ahead. They looked…brainwashed. Dib voiced these thoughts to Zim as they took a break on a seemingly unused bench. Zim nodded in agreement.

"The Control Brains brainwash everyone - they really fit their names. But these guys especially. Soldiers and the chosen Irken Elite are very powerful. If they get the right idea, find out their being controlled, they could definitely take over the Control Brains in a day's time." Zim explained. "But ZIM is controlled by no one!"

"Huh…so why don't you start an uprising?" Dib asked.

"Well. I did consider joining the Resisty. But then I'd have a captain. Zim is his OWN CAPTAIN. And I used to be very loyal to the Tallest."

"The Resisty? What's that?"

"A resistance group. Spearheaded by that ANNOYING Vortion, Lard Nar, BOY - can that guy go on. All Vorations are idiots. Well except for 777, that guy-"

Dib would've loved nothing more but to sit and listen to Zim's tales, but he spotted a group of soldiers being led in their direction from that green eyed guy. They looked ready to take out a can of Whip-Ass, and Dib wasn't prepared for that. He yanked Zim up by the arm and whispered in his ear, "We have to go." Zim took a hint and they walked swiftly away.

They zig-zagged in and out of buildings, trying to lose the guys - but soon they were in a pursuit, running extremely fast. "Dammit." Dib hissed as he looked over his shoulder. They were still right on their tail. No time to take a breather. Dib's heart felt as if it were about to burst but he tied to keep his breath.

Zim led the way, moving gracefully over obstacles and through small passageways. Dib, not being so agile under the pressure of the gravity, tripped over a metal bar randomly laying in an alleyway.

"Shit!" he cursed as he hit the pavement. He felt a buzz as a metal thing fell off him. His disguise! Taking no time to try and grab it, he picked himself up and ran after Zim.

Wind filtered through his black hair and his trenchcoat flapped behind him. Tying to keep up with the pink and green blur, he skidded around a corner. His ship! The sight of it gave him energy so that his pace quickened almost instantly.


	9. Chapter 9

Zim and Dib clamored up the dock, pushing past several soldiers guarding the ship. "Open fire!" He heard a soldier yell. Immediately plasma bolts whizzed by their heads. They were almost to the ship, the door was open, Eva had the engine ready to go. He saw GIR waving his arms frantically at them from the inside. Dib and Zim zig-zagged so it'd be more difficult for their pursuers to get a clean hit. A plasma bolt zoomed by Dib's ear and clipped Zim's arm. He hissed in pain and pulled out the gun on his hip - which Dib had never noticed before.

They were about 20 feet from the ship, they both picked up their pace, though almost impossible to do so. Zim fired an orange laser back at the soldiers behind Dib. As he was running, he noticed how much it sounded like a sci-fi movie he once saw. What was it called? Star…Wars? Or was it Star Trek? Or…

Focusing back on reality, Dib followed Zim's lead and skidded into the ship and ducked behind the walls as the hatch started to close. "Welcome home HONEY BUN!" GIR screeched. Plasma bolts rained down on the ship as they pulled off.

Dib tried for several minutes to catch his breath and slow his heart so that it didn't hurt so much. GIR and Minimoose had run off somewhere in the ship, hopefully not breaking anything. Dib leaned against the cool wall of the ship and watched Zim, who had quickly recovered and was navigating them away from the planet.

Damn that alien was fast.

"Why," Dib gasped a needed breath of oxygen. "Why is your race so butt-hurt? We didn't even DO anything!" he gasped again, getting enough oxygen to stand on his own.

"They do not allow unauthorized personnel on Devastis, ESPECIALLY aliens." Zim shot a look at Dib. "They are chasing us. It's going to be a little rough." Zim informed Dib, who had come to stand next to him by the dashboard.

Dib watched in amazement at how Zim could do so many things at once while looking elsewhere. His hands worked expertly on the dashboard beneath him - not only piloting the ship, but checking its conditions and watching the enemy fleet - as he read charts and dots on the windshield monitor. Dib silently thanked the gods Zim had come.

The ship jarred sharply to the left but Dib had planted his feet firmly on the shiny, white floor thanks to Zim's warning. Finally, he noticed Zim's arm. His face got noticeablely pale. Zim's flesh had been literally seered off his bicep, the skin was almost black. "Z-Zim…" he said as his heart lept in his throat. Boy that was a nasty wound.

"What? WHAT HUMAN?" Zim turned the ship hard to the right as something knocked the back of the ship. Dib pointed to the missing chunk of flesh on his arm. He glanced down at it and dismissed it just as quick. "I'll be fine." he growled.

Several sirens started going off and Zim muttered something in his language. Dib supposed it was a curse.

"The left engine is down…We have to land quick or it's not going to be pretty." he announced. Dib ran his hand over his hair-scythe as he watched the red dots close in on their ship on the monitor. "Uh Zim?" he warned nervously.

"Eva!" he barked. "Space-warp, NOW. No destination just do it!" Dib's eyes widened at the massive black hole that formed in front of his ship. Zim sat down in the pilot chair and strapped himself up in two seconds flat. Dib was frozen in place, his mind racing, panicking. The sirens were deafening, the red glow inside the ship made it look like Hell.

Zim - with adrenaline encouraged strength and a loud growl followed by mumbling about humanities utter stupidness - snatched Dib from where he was standing and wrapped his arms around his waist and chest, acting as a seat belt. Dib shut his eyes tight and gripped the arms of the chair for extra support.

The space-warp this time was very rough. The ship rattled and spinned, flipped and twirled. Probably on the account that they were going so fast. Zim's arms were so tight around Dib it hurt his ribs, but he didn't mind. Heck - Zim was saving his life. If he wasn't being crushed by the alien, he'd have flown into something and broken his neck.

This space-warp was lasting noticeably longer than the last. Dib finally opened his eyes, still spinning and shaking - but not as roughly anymore, and realized they weren't in the space-warp, they were just in space. He saw planets and stars whiz by. "Zim!" he choked out. "Zim we crashing!"

The alien loosened his grip on the human and pushed him off. The ship was now plummeting down, though it stayed upright so they could walk. Dib grunted as he hit the floor and looked up at Zim. The vigorous rumbling resonated through the boys bodies making it more difficult to speak over the already loud sound of the sirens.

"ZIM YOU ASSHOLE YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO PUSH ME!"

"ZIM JUST SAVED YOUR LIFE YOU UNGRATEFUL SMEET!"

"WHAT THE HELL'S A SMEET?"

"SHUT YOUR DIRTY MOUTH YOU STINK-MONKEY, I'M TRYING TO NOT CRASH!"

"NOT CRASH? WHAT-" Dib's ship hit an asteroid, sending Dib sliding across the floor to the right and smacking him into the ship's wall. He groaned, rubbing his head. He couldn't hear anything other than a ringing, it was somehow calming.

Looking up from the floor Dib watched Zim try to take control of the ship, but suddenly his expression changed. His big magenta eyes grew wide and his antennae lowered - almost touching his back. Zim actually looked terrified. Dib wanted to see what he was staring at, but he was too far away to see out of the windsheild. Zim turned his head to Dib with the same scared expression and said something, but Dib couldn't hear him. He felt a powerful jerk that sent him backward…

It all went black.

xxxx

Dib's eyes fluttered open to a blurry green and brown mess. He groaned and shut his eyes due to the hot, bright sunlight that assaulted his retinas. He wondered where he was. It was humid and hot. Sweat trickled down his cheek. His head felt like it was split in half, everything was sore, and there was a huge pressure on his right leg. Lifting his head off the warm ground, he opened his eyes again and tried to focus.

There were massive green plants and vivid purple flowers a few feet in front of him. The ground was covered in vines. The earth underneath him was soft. All of this reminded him of a jungle. There wre various parts and pieces of metal littered across the place. He strained to listen to what was around him: weird, periodic noises from several places - Dib guessed they were birds - rustling leaves, a shrill call of an animal, but nothing more.

He tuned his head to the other side of him. Here he saw a big clearing, ripped and torn plants covering his ship. His ship! Dib was grateful it didn't look totaled and it was only about a half mile away from him.

After assessing his surroundings, Dib thought it was a good time to check himself. He lifted himself off his chest and propped himself on his elbow, not ready to sit up yet, and ran his hand through his hair. He felt a sharp pain near the back of his skull and winced at the warm liquid he felt. Just to make sure, he looked at his hand. It wasn't much, but it was blood. "Damn." he sighed. Hee looked down at his torso and craned his neck around to see his back. Nothing more than a few scrapes and cuts - and sore muscles.

As his eyes traveled down the length of his body, they came to rest on his right leg. It was under a huge piece of metal that must have come off his ship.

Dib wondered how he could get his leg out…he could lift the metal piece up. No, he couldn't twist himself around enough to grab it - much less have the leverage to haul it off. He could lift his leg and kick it off. Nope, he couldn't even feel his leg and when he tried to pull himself out from under it, as excruciating pain shot up his leg and ran all the way through his body. It was so painful he let out a small yelp.

So how could he get to his ship?

A certain friend popped into Dib's mind as he thought about ways to get out out his predicament. "Zim!" he said aloud. Where was that green-ass alien anyways? He called for Zim and looked around, waiting for a response.

Zim appeared before him, coming out of the forest. His shirt was missing but he didn't look hurt at all. In fact, even his arm looked almost completely healed. Dib looked at Zim's bare torso, he could only see the upper half since his black leggings went all the way up to just below his rib cage, but the skin he could see was absolutely smooth and unblemished like freshly spun silk. Dib was astonished that such a violent and carefree being had not a scratch on him.

Zim marched over to Dib quickly, looking tired and upset. The tell-tale position of Zim's antennae told Dib: "Get ready for some screaming."

"DIB-BEAST!" he growled. He came to a halt right at Dib's face. Zim's Irken combat boots were the only thing he could see. Dib wondered if he should back up…Zim could kick him full-on.

But wait - he was stuck.

Fuck.


	10. Chapter 10

Zim screamed at Dib. He screamed and screamed and screamed. He screamed his little, evil, Irken heart out. Dib just laid there and took it. Just as he always had. He figured he always would.

Dib didn't have the energy to fight back. He didn't even have the energy to lift his head to look at the alien in the face. He was so tired. So sore. So weak. He just lay there under Zim's accusations and curses, staring at the tips off those black, shiny, cold Irken boots.

This reminded him of many times back in Skool. All the kids that hated him for no reason. The ones that harmed him. Just words sometimes, but other times they brought physical hurt with them. Those soulless creatures. Those pitiful, spiteful, stupid…

Dib would sigh if he could.

The anger those memories brought knew no bounds. His chest started to hurt, deep deep inside where no medicine could fix. In some ways he could see himself turning into Zim. Then he'd be no better than all those kids at Skool. Hell…he'd be worse. That's what kept his sanity going, a greater evil than himself to compare to. That's why he turned those thoughts away like he always had. No way he'd let that hate consume him. They were his family. That was his home. Dib's thoughts turned to earth. They we safe, yes, but…he still loved them all. He still missed them.

Humans. Such a frail existence, yet somehow powerful in its own way.

Dib's mind returned to the present. Zim was still yelling. Damn if that guy couldn't keep up an argument. A one-sided argument at that. Dib took a deep breath.

"ZIM WOULD YOU SHUT YOUR FUCKING HOLE AND GET THIS DAMNED THING OFF MY FUCKING LEG! IT'S KIND OF PAINFUL YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR AN INVADER! AND YOUR CONSTANT BITCHING ISN'T. FUCKING. HELPING!"

Ooh yes, Dib sure thought about saying that. He played it out in his head how he wanted it to happen. But he was too weak - and too smart - to say that to Zim. Instead, trying to speak in a normal voice - which came out in more of a whisper - Dib asked ever-so-politely, "Zim…would you please…help me? My leg…"

"Eh?" Zim leaned down to hear Dib, since he hadn't noticed that the human was talking until he said "leg".

"Please…my leg…help…"

"Hmmmmm?" Zim turned to look at his leg, then with a suprised look, jumped up and walked over to the metal object. "Oooh." he commented in a disgusted tone. "There is a lot of…err…blood. And ehh…human legs don't point that way either." he informed Dib in a matter-of-fact tone. Dib couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Mmmm…that looks really painful. I mean - REALLY painful."

Obviously Zim was having some kind of pleasure in seeing Dib in this state and did not have any sense of urgency.

"That's like half your leg right there. MORE than half. Oh Tallest that is horrible." Zim went on.

"Doesn't that hurt?" He asked curiously.

Dib started to panic and lifted his head off the ground to tried to see behind him. "W-what? What…are you doing? Stop touching me!"

Zim poked his leg again. "You can't feel that?"

"Feel what? No... - wait yes!" Dib tired to flail around, but only succeeded in flapping his hands back and forth behind him. "Don't touch me!"

Zim made a "tsk tsk" sound and stood. "The Dib might have to lose his leg…" he said more to himself than Dib.

"L-l-lose? Lose - LOSE MY LEG?" he managed to shriek. His panicking caused his heart to beat faster than it should be in his state, and it made him light-headed. His body's adrenaline was depleting and his wounds becoming more painful by the minute.

"Zim. Zim…We gotta fix the ship. We…gotta go. I need…a doctor." Dib pleaded.

"The AMAZING ZIM has already fixed the ship enough for us to leave. While you were slacking off SLEEPING." he triumphed. He grabbed Dib's forearms and gripped them tightly. "Alright, human, lets see what you're capable of withstanding."

Dib's eyes widened in terror. "No…Zim no! You can't!" He tried to pull his arms out out of Zim's grasp with weak, pathetic attempts only ending in more pain.

"Zim has to! It is the only way to get you out! Don't be a weakling!" he growled impatiently and tugged Dib's upper body off the ground. Dib started to whimper from both fear of the oncoming pain and the pain he was having right now.

"Oh come now…this is pathetic." Zim purred, obviously not able to hide his joy. He sounded thrilled, which pissed Dib off. His eyes shrank into narrow slits and his eyebrows pulled together, he definitely did not want to hear anymore of Zim's shit.

"Zim…shut the fuck up. I know…you're probably getting…a boner from this…but let's just…get it over with." He growled between gaps for air. "That's more like it!" Zim exclaimed excitedly.

As soon as Zim started to pull, unexplainable pain exploded through every nerve in his body. He almost threw up when he opened his mouth to yell agony. Zim didn't stop pulling, though.

Dib would have rather sat there and rotten he decided when he almost blacked out from the pain. His right leg - the part he could feel anyway - continued to feel as though it was on fire, even after Zim let him lay in the dirt completely out from under the metal piece. "Oh sweet baby Jesus…" Dib hissed through gritted teeth. This was definitely the most pain he had ever been in in his life. Continuing to groan in pain on the hot, moist ground, Dib thought about his predicament. He didn't know if he truly regretted doing all this, but as of now, he regretted being created.

"Alright alright, you selfish little smeet." he heard Zim say, sounding as if he were talking to a child throwing a fit. Dib watched the black and green blur with teary eyes as he walked behind him. Almost as soon as Zim knelt down beside him he felt relief from the pain. It all went away, leaving a leaving nothing but a dull ache. His head cleared and his breathing slowed to just above normal rate, along with his heart. "What did you do?" Dib asked. Zim held a syringe up to Dib's eyes.

"Irken painkiller. Very high quality and very effective. Zim had better hear a thank you." he demanded.

Dib was going to say thank you, but a surge of something went through him and and felt really freaking good. His mind was swimming around in the happiness. He felt light. He felt good. He smiled lazily and started to giggle.

With a disgusted face, Zim examined the syringe, then Dib, glancing back and forth between the two before he came up with the answer. Overdose, he supposed. Or maybe just a side-effect from Irken medicine. Whatever happened, Zim didn't like it.

The human looked stupid.

He stared at Zim with clouded, honey coloured eyes and laughed quietly. His cheeks had turned a pinkish color, too. One eyelid was lower than the other. Zim rolled his eyes at the idiot and told him he looked like one.

"Yoooou look like an idiot." Dib cooed at him, his lips forming a very big grin that seemed to curl inward at the ends.

As annoying as he was being, at least he wasn't being loud with complaints, Zim resolved.

Dib smiled the whole way to the ship, even though he was being dragged through dirt and metal pieces and whatever other junk was on the ground, by his arms. Zim shoved Dib in one of the two chairs he had set back up. Dib watched Zim dully. Zim stared back. Slowly, Dib's head cocked to the right a whole 90° with the smile still on his face. Like a dog so curious he broke his neck.

Zim stepped back from the creepy Dib and ordered Eva to take care of her master.

Turning away from the human, Zim shrugged off a chill that ran down his back. He preferred Dib when he had his right mind. Making a mental note to never let Dib have any more Irken medicine, Zim walked back out of the ship.

He had to find his beloved invader shirt before they left.

That shirt was just like all the other invaders were issued, but it was special to Zim. He had gone through many a day with that shirt. Even though he had to tailor it up a few human years back, since he had grown both taller and filled out more, and he didn't do a very good job of it, it was still beautiful. He searched through the green leaves and purple flowers of the odd forest planet hoping to find his pink companion, but t'was all in vain.

He found the tattered, dirty shirt behind a big plant not far from where he was flung out of the ship. It had stains, rips and holes in it. He hugged his beat-up friend to his chest and walked back to the ship.

As he got closer, he heard Dib's giggling. He also heard GIR's high-pitched, metallic voice and a few squeaking noises.

Oh Tallest…why did they ALL have to survive the crash?


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Nyaaa, here's a small chapter for my darlings who read this! Stay tuned!**

Zim stuffed Minimoose and GIR yet again in containment, and contemplated doing the same with Dib.

Dib bobbed his head left and right in the chair while Zim tried to figure out exactly where they were. They had gone off the grid of known planets, that's for sure. And Dib had to get to a doctor quick, otherwise…Zim shuddered at the thought off the humans filthy flesh rotting right on his body. Then there was the infections, making their way into his blood stream and just like that - _dead_. Zim wondered how he'd feel about that. He'd have to clean up the mess but…

"Zim, Dib needs medical attention. Quickly." Eva said, an urgent tone rising in her voice. Zim shook the thoughts away and cleared his mind. "ZIM knows this!" he snapped. He took a quick glance at Dib, who waved at him happily. Zim growled back at him, which only made the overdosed young adult chuckle.

"ALRIGHT." he let out an annoyed sigh, shutting the hatch of the ship. "Zim does not know where exactly we are - BUT Zim does know where we need to go. A secret ship floating just outside of Vort. He knows science. You space-warp us there."

"Yes sir." she replied.

"Ziiiiim." Dib moaned.

"What, you ignorant monkey?"

"Please may I have a smidge of grape jellies?!" he sang.

The engine of the ship started up, sputtering at first but continuing into its usual, quiet hum.

"Shut up." Zim snapped at him.

"Gimme wafflesssss." Dib demanded happily, somehow turning himself upside down on the chair. The sing-songy voice Dib had been using got on Zim's nerves fairly quickly.

"Zim said shush!" Zim hissed, putting Dib upright in the chair and getting in his face. "If you sing another sentan-"

Dib kissed Zim's forehead with a loud "CHU!"

Zim's mouth hung open. He started to gasp for air, and then - rubbing his face vigerously - he screamed in horror. Dib giggled and bounced in his seat, putting his hand over his mouth with an "Oops!"

"**GYAAAAAAHHHHH!** YOU FILTHY PIG, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ZIIIIM!? I'LL MURDER YOU! I'LL RIP YOUR EYES OUT AND _SHOVE_ THEM DOWN YOUR THROAT SO YOU CAN SEE ME_ RIPPING YOUR GUTS OUT!_ AAHHHHH! " Zim ran wildly around the hull out the ship in a panicked frenzy, holding the spot where Dib had kissed him like he had gotten burned with water. "Eva! Shoot me! SHOOT ZIM!" he begged, still running circles around the ship.

"Stop overreacting." Eva ordered as she clutched Zim's flailing limbs in her small metalic claws. "Lift off in T minus 10." she announced, strapping the screaming Zim into the pilots chair. He calmed down for a moment to catch his breath, gasping for air every few seconds.

Once he caught his breath, he sighed. "Eva." he called in a sweet tone. "How about we have your pathetic master…"

"5…4…3"

"DIE A HORRIBLE BURNING DEATH FULL OF PAIN AND HURT AND SUFFERING AND-AND PAIN!" Zim screamed. Eva ignored him, and when time was up, they started to pull away from the foreign planet.

Zim turned, raging mad, to Dib.

Blood was pooling on the floor below him, the air was starting to smell foul. He still giggled quietly at Zim, his irises hidden by the glare of his glasses from the florescent lights above. He looked happy as he laughed, but something in his face had changed. The expression he had, Zim could not describe…he was laughing and happy, but it was like a scared, tired, pained laugh now, like inside was screaming and bawling, but outside he was happy as ever. Zim had never seen this expression before, it made his scowl disappear into something of a sad, worried face. If he could move, he might have gone over to the human and tried to comfort him in some kind of form or fashion.

Zim turned away from the human, disgusted thouroughly with himself. He actually _cared_ a little bit. Everyone on this ship had gone insane.


	12. Chapter 12

Dib woke up bleary eyed and stiff. It was so bright he could barely see. Squinting, Dib looked around. Everything was white. White bed, white walls, white lights…"Am I dead?" he asked himself aloud. He heard a raspy laugh from somewhere in the room followed by an "I wish."

"Zim." he sighed, releaved that there was one familiar thing in the blur of confusion. "I can't see, where are we?" he heard shuffling to his right. "You are in my space ship. Zim came here so I could fix you back up. I'm 777. Here…" the stranger put Dib's glasses back on his face gently. "Better?"

Dib sat up and rubbed the back of his neck while he adjusted his glasses. "Yeah, thanks." 777 was a Voration, Dib could tell by his shelled antennae and small eyes. He had done his research. He looked wise and worried somehow, maybe a little timid. Zim sat in the corner of the room with a curious expression. "Do you want to stand?" the Voration asked. He motioned to an open space on the floor. Dib nodded and swung his legs off the bed he had been lying on and stood. Something was off, he couldn't stand right and he fell. Zim let out a loud cackle. "What the-?" Dib looked at his leg that made him fall. That wasn't his leg.

That was not Dib's leg.

He started to freak out. "Wh-wh-where's my leg!? Get that off of me! Get it off!" He kicked the shiny, metallic mass that was supposedly his leg. "Mr. Dib, please. Calm down and I'll explain." 777 reached down to help the flailing man on the floor, but he swatted the Voration's hand away and persisted on trying to bash the bionic leg off. 777 looked timidly at Zim, motioning with his eyes for the Irken to do something about Dib. With a heavy sigh, Zim stood. He walked to Dib. His fist connected with the human's lower jaw with a reassuring crack, and he helped Dib off the floor and onto his feet again.

Dib held his tender jaw with one hand, staring angrily at Zim, but he remained silent. He then stared at his "leg".

"Mr. Dib, I'm sorry to say, but I had to amputate your right leg. There was nothing I could do about that matter. However, you will not have any infections, you did not contact a disease, and the upper part of your leg is perfectly healthy." 777 smiled at the human, who stared at him dully.

"So…I have a prosthetic leg…" melencholy laced his quiet voice.

"Ah, not prosthetic, but bionic!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "That one there is the newest and best that money can buy. It connects directly with your nerves and there is a 100% guarantee no irritation or illness will come to you because of it, isn't that wonderful? It's just like your real leg, except metal! You'll get used to it likety-split."

"Still not my leg…" he mumbled. Yes, Dib thought it looked cool. And yes, Dib thought it'd be awesome to walk with it. But something just felt wrong. It wasn't the same flesh and blood he had for 21 years. He just felt…sad.

"Walk around the room and get used to it. Zim, help him if he needs it - I'll be back in a while." 777 stepped out of the white room and went about his business.

Dib looked at Zim blankly, then turned away from him. He didn't want anyone's help.

He walked slowly at first. It would definitely take time to get used to, no matter how advanced the technology was. After a while of almost falling and stiff walking, Dib could move around almost normally. He didn't fist pump in the air. He didn't do a cartwheel. He didn't smile. He wanted his other leg back, the one that kicked soccer balls across the grass, the one that he ran with, the one he'd scrapped up so many times from falling, the one he used to make his skateboard go faster, the one that he always crossed over the other when he put his feet up. He just stared at the foreign metal leg and loathed it.

Zim saw how the human was acting and got upset. "What is wrong, human? That leg is** far** more superior than your old one anyway. Stop being quiet." Zim stomped over to Dib, arms across his chest and his face in an angry pout when Dib did not respond with anything more than a sad glare. "Stop that…that look_. Stop it_. Zim demands!" When Dib did not stop, Zim glanced around nervously, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, seamingly trying to find something to say. He snapped his head to Dib suddenly. "ZIM has told you to stop with that look on your PATHETIC face! **STOP!"** The anger in the shout dissipated quicker than it normally would, and Zim was now fidgeting with his hands while his antennae lowered, also twitching. He was looking anywhere other than Dib's face.

_What's his problem? No way he could be feeling sorry for me right now…?_ Dib wondered inwardly. This thought cracked Dib's depression into a small, pitiful happiness.

Dib quickly pulled Zim close in a hug. Zim squirmed wildly underneath him, trying to get free of the Dib's grasp, then went limp as the human lightly stroked his lekku. "Thank you, Zim. This really means a lot coming from a narcissistic overlord like yourself." Dib murmured against the thin black stalks he was touching. (He had asked Eva about Irken antennae, and found out apparently they we very sensitive to touch.) "To take care of me all the way here - wherever we are - and even to go as far as this. Getting me a doctor. Thank you."

And just like that, Dib let go of Zim.

Zim was absolutely still with shock for a moment, then his squeedlyspooch convulsed, he visibly wretched. Not that the human had caused actual harm, Zim was utterly disgusted at himself and how much he enjoyed that few seconds. Bile rose inside his throat as another convulsion from his organ threw him on his knees.

"_Filthy_…human." he growled.

"Alright, alright, don't make a big show of it." Dib sighed, watching alien's over dramatic scene.

Zim gagged a few more times and then stood, holding his stomach. "**ZIM will kill you**."

Dib laughed at the threat and patted Zim's head. "I know ya will."

Somehow the hug made everything better for Dib, he wasn't too sad about losing his leg anymore. 777 came back and ran a few extra test just in case, and then let the two go. "777 is a convict. All of this is illegal, not sure why the Irken armada has caught him yet, of course it is cloaked, but…" Zim thought aloud to Dib as thet walked to the ship's exit. 777's ship was similar to Zim's, although it was less messy with wires and had more grey than pink. It was a pretty large ship. Dib couldn't help but to admire it.

With his boot on and pant leg down, Dib really could hardly tell the difference between his real leg and the new one. It just somehow felt weird, but he usually didn't notice it. Dib was still angry that he had lost it, though.

"Zim. I want to be a rebel. You know, like the Resisty. I want some kind of revenge." Dib pronounced.

"Are you serious, Dib-monkey? That's…actually…" Zim also wanted revenge on the Tallest, for all the lies and the make-Zim-an-exile-without-him-knowing thing. He tapped his chin with his finger deep in thought.

"No wait, we could join the Resisty itself!" Dib triumphed. "They're rebels, right?"

"Yes but-"

"Its _perfect_!"

"Stupid hyooman! You can't just **join** the Re-"

"Come on!" Dib excitedly yanked Zim all the way to their ship. "We're gonna be like Han Solo and Chewbacca! They're rebels…right? It'll be awesome!" Dib almost fell several times on his new leg, but somehow kept his very fast pace. Zim made an "Oh brother." face as he was being dragged by the over exited human.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: It has been an agonizingly slow progression for the two to realize they are attracted in more than a friendly way, but soon, my darlings, soon they will learn! And a big fat gracias to my wonderful ashen snowflake! You comment on every chapter and I give you loves. I may not be posting chapters as quickly anymore because I got a NEW SKETCHBOOK and I'm DRAWING MY HEART OUT. **

"Uhn! Zim!" Dib groaned. The alien had him pinned down, his pelvis on the human's stomach and one hand on his throat.

"Wrong move, human!" Zim growled. "You'd be dead by now, AGAIN!" Zim got off Dib's torso and helped him up.

"You have to be quicker than that!"

"I'm trying! Jeeze!"

"Shut up and stop complaining!"

"Stop yelling at me!"

"Zim stops for no one!"

"Shut up!" Dib tackled Zim and wrestled with him, desperately trying to get the upper hand. Dib's height definitely helped, along with his strength, but often times Zim's training overpowered those advantages. He would dodge the punches Dib threw expertly, and twist out out any hold Dib tired to get on him. Like a slimy snake.

"Dead!" Zim triumphed, again on top of the human. Dib growled but didn't make an effort to move. "Shut up, space boy."

Zim crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the human beneath him. "You might not be good at hand-to-hand combat, but we can try weaponry. You MAY have a small chance at that. You have to be good at something to join the Resisty." Dib crossed his arms over his own chest and stuck his tongue out at the alien. He was tired of training. He was sore and out of breath, and it didn't help that Zim was sitting on him. Straddling him…

Dib's face got red, noticing this. _Why-why is my face getting so hot!?_ he asked himself frantically. Zim narrowed his eyes at the redness. "Are you sick or something, Dib?" Dib shook his head no, his heartbeat quickened. "What's your face doing, then?" Zim asked suspiciously, poking Dib's cheek with his claw. "I-I-I-"

"Speak words, worm-baby!"

"I need to go to the restroom!" Dib shrieked and flung the alien off his chest. He dashed down the hull of his ship and got in the elevator. It lifted him to his room and he went to the restroom and slammed the door behind himself.

He looked at his reflection, terrified. He took off his glasses and splashed cold water in his face, cooling down his cheeks substantially. "What the hell did that happen for?" Dib asked his reflection. "Well…well, I am a man. And men have manly needs…" he assured himself. "But…having needs for an alien? For…ZIM?" he shook his head, helping the thoughts to scatter. "No, no I just got a little flustered, that's all." He put his glasses back on and ran his hand over his hair-scythe. "It's just…been a while since…ugh." he sighed and took a deep breath, then went back the hull of the ship. "Alright, Zim, let's try out those guns." he said seriously. "With pleasure." Zim smiled, slightly shocked at the sudden change of attitude.

Dib was absolutely outstanding with guns, although Zim said he was only "slightly above average.", he hit every target - and most of them dead-center. He could shoot while running, jumping over things, over all, Dib could be an awesome addition to any army. And he knew this, he was proud of himself when he saw how the Irken looked at him. Disbelief, anger, and approval all swirled in his big magenta eyes. Of course - the anger was always there.

Dib was a total badass. And he was very confident in himself when the day was done. He propped his feet up on his dashboard and lounged in his pilot chair, fully content with what he'd discovered. He called Zim over. The Irken appeared beside him, slightly annoyed with himself that he did what the human had bid him.

"Zim, like I said before, when you're nice to me you get presents…so…" Dib pulled about a cup of sugar in a small container out off his trench coat. "Here. No matter how much you want to deny it, you helped me out a lot. Thanks." Dib smiled at the adorable expression Zim had made when he saw the sugar.

The alien snatched the container from his pale hand with a happy grin. He proceeded to pour the sugar down his throat and lick the container clean with his worm-like tounge, which was apperantly very flexible. Dib watched his tongue move around in the clear, cup shaped container and swallowed thickly as he averted his eyes.

_What's going on with me all the sudden? Is this normal? No way…but he's the only person I've got. So would that be normal? I guess. But still…_

Dib was disturbed with himself. He couldn't understand what was happening, he just knew it was odd and that he didn't necessarily like it. No - he didn't like it at all, this was ZIM we were talking about!

Dib sighed, suddenly very tired, and stood. "I'm going to bed, we'll find the Resisty ship tomorrow." he annunced without looking at Zim, then left the hull of the ship and rode the elevator to his room.

Zim's antennae twitched as he watched Dib leave. Then he shrugged and went back to making sure every morsel of the powdered heaven had made it to his mouth.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I think the final chapter is coming pretty soon! But I dunno yet!**

The R.E.S.I.S.T.Y ship was fairly easy to find. It floated on the outskirts of the galaxy, looming in the darkness. The large, grey Voration ship was not as impressive as the Massive, but was indeed a large size with several heafty guns dotted about the hull. It hovered almost forgoten in the dim light, giving it a haunted look, but Zim knew there were several different walks of life scurrying around inside, busy as can be. Zim was currently trying to get in contact with Lard Nar, the leader of the Resisty, for permission to board, but it was taking quite a while for the Voration to get to him.

The sugar in Zim's system made im feel excellent physically, as well as mentally, and he was grateful to Dib. Very grateful. Not only had the human covered his hide on many occasions, he also took care of Zim and listened to his complaints and thoughts. And Zim, just the same, had saved Dib's life several times and took care of him, as well as more or less acknowledging him every so often. There was a special bond between the two, now. Something deeper than friendship, maybe even deeper than companionship. There was trust, admiration, and respect instilled in both of them for the other. It stood firm without acknowledgement, without words being said to confirm it, it just was. And that was a rare and precious thing.

Zim mulled over this until he heard a certain_ "klank, klank, klank"_ of metal against linoleum rythmically getting louder until it stopped behind him, pulling him out of his thoughts. He swiveled the chair to face the source of noise.

"Found it already, huh?"

"It was not difficult." Zim said simply. He took in the sight of Dib's new metal leg again. Usually, Dib kept it hidden in his boot and under his pant leg, but now he let it show. His pant leg was rolled up to the same height as the other, which was tucked inside his black boot, and the bionic limb shone coldly under the florescent light of the ship. Zim wondered why he had decided to uncover it. Maybe he had finally accepted the loss of his real leg, maybe he liked it, maybe he didn't care.

"I am trying to get permission to board, but that bastard Lard Nar seems to be taking his sweet time." Zim growled slightly as he turned back to face the Voration's ship. Dib came to stand next to him, and looked out of the windsheild as well.

"It's beautiful."

"What?"

"Space. Isnt it?"

"I suppose so…?" Zim curiously looked at Dib' after hearing his tone of voice, and the small, forced smile on the human's pale face confirmed Zim on his curiosity. He sounded and looked like he did before they left earth. Happy and broken at the same time. Dib stared out of the windshield with a very distant look in his eyes. It was as if he had left his body behind, and his soul and mind walked on a higher plane. Zim remained silent, thinking it rude to bring Dib from that place back down to reality. Zim wondered what he could be thinking about, but as he kept watching the unmoving figure, he realized he couldn't see the gears turning thoughts in Dib's brain like he usually could. No, his eyes now looked as if he were dead. He was gone. He was far, far away from this ship. From this galaxy. From this life. '_Don't leave me behind, let me come too!'_ Zim screamed at Dib on the inside, and for some reason started to panic.

Something cracked, then, in Zim's mind, and a new realization oozed slowly into his brain, seeping in to the fibers, gaining new understanding. He didn't want to be alone.

As much as he hated the notion, he had to accept it.

He never wanted to be alone again.

He slowly reached out to Dib's hand, unsure of what he would accomplish by touching the humans pale skin, but Zim was sure that there was something in that hand that held the answer.

Suddenly a transmition cut through on the windshield, jerking both men from their trance, to behold a grey, green-goggled Voration who was none other than Lard Nar.

"What do _you_ want?" the Voration asked, suprised and suspicious at the fact that he was seeing Zim, as well as a human. Humans never left their home planet, and Zim didn't like him.

"We would like to board your ship, we have a proposition to discuss." Zim replied professionally, quickly jerking his hand back to himself. Dib thanked God the sugar was still making Zim pleasant enough to be reasonable. Lard Nar gave the two a questioning glance, then after some thought leaned back and shouted something to one of his crew.

"Alright, you are cleared to board. I'll meet you on the bridge." the transmission cut out and two looked at each other. "This is exciting." Dib said happily. He was his normal self again. Zim only wondered why Dib had acted so odd only a split-second before letting out a chuckle and responding with, "Yes, yes it is. Let's hope you don't screw this up."

"Bah, _me?_ You should worry about yourself."

"Says the guy who got pinned down** 5 times**!"

"I let you."

"Yeah right! Zim knows when he has won."

"Oh, really?"

"This is what ZIM just said! _ZIM DOES NOT LIE!"_

The two joked and laughed while they docked the ship inside the larger ship, releaving all the tension and tightness that had been in the air prior to Lard Nar's interruption.

"Welcome aboard, Zim. And you are…?" the Voration asked, looking up at Dib. Dib noted the seemingly British accent the Lard Nar used, like Tak had.

"Dib…Dib Membrane." he smiled back politely. "Captain Lard Nar."The Voration offered his hand for a handshake, and Dib - with a suprised look - accepted and shook. The Voration laughed when he saw the expression on his face. "I've studied the cultures of many species, just in case this ever happened."

Dib quickly racked his brain for the things he had learned about Vorations, but could find nothing on the subject of proper greeting. Lard Nar looked from Dib to Zim and smirked. "Oh, Zim, you've gotten **taller**, _congrats_." Zim scowled back and the Voration chuckled. "Now now, let's not get too feisty. Come with me, please."

The two followed Lard Nar, his hooves clacked on the metal floor while he talked about his ship. Dib's own leg made small, dull _"tink"_s, but not too loud as to overpower Lard Nar's voice. Dib listened intently and let his eyes wander around the ship. It was large and mostly grey, with far less messy wires snaking around like Irken ships. Several different species of alien's scuttled around the floor, carrying things, typing at consoles, talking with one another. Dib marveled at how they were all so different and yet worked together so well. They all spoke english as well, and Dib supposed english was a second language - or first - to every alien, which was odd to him. Nonetheless he was grateful he didn't have to wonder around wondering what everyone was saying.

Lard Nar led them up to the second floor of his ship, which was almost completely quiet. It was a large room with a U shaped table in the middle, and had several chairs surrounding the sides. "Sit, and tell me why you came here."

They took a seat and Lard Nar sat in front of them. "We want to join the Resisty." Dib informed him. Lard Nar was taken aback, then looked at Zim to confirm.

"We?"

Zim nodded.

"Zim," he laughed a little. "How am I supposed to trust **you**? You_ ARE_ the enemy race!"

Zim clenched his fists and bared his teeth, getting ready to rip the captain's head off, when Dib cut in. "Trust me, he isn't one of them anymore." The Voration looked at Dib before leaning back in his chair, contemplating the request. He did need more crew members, especially ones that had a brain. He hated to admit it, but he was running a barrel of idiots here. If he had some actual intelligent beings on board, they could possibly make progress. The human looked strong, and seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, of course that leg of his may or may not cause some trouble. And Zim, Lard Nar knew for sure, he wasn't exactly the sharpest tool - maybe second or third sharpest - but compaired to the rest of his crew he was capable of making reasonable decisions sometimes. And alsot he fact that he was a slippery little bastard who was extremely fast could help in some situations. And to add on to that, he knew all abut the enemy. Two very powerful allies sat before Lard Nar, and he accepted their offer happily.

"Alright, you're in. Welcome aboard."

Dib smiled widely, rising from his seat. Zim stayed put with his head in his arms resting on the table.

"Thank you so much, we won't disappoint!" Dib saluted. Lard Nar chuckled and saluted back. Zim half-heartedly raised his hand, keeping his head on the table, and waved it lazily.

Suddenly, an alien with four arms and a floating cone burst in, screaming happily.

"_Hi_, I'm **Shloonktapooxis**! It's so _great_ you **_joined_**!" the cone screamed at Dib.

"Shl-sh-shloontawhat?" Dib asked, but was cut off by four, two fingered hands shaking both his at the same time.

"Greetings, I'm Spleenk!"

In all the commotion, Dib heard Lard Nar shout, "Men, get _back_ to your **positions**!" But it went unheard as about 7 other aliens crashed into the room, greeting Dib in a frenzy.

"Damn broken intercom." Lard Nar grumbled.

"What hve I got myself in to?" Zim mumbled into his forearm.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Here is some fluffy-duffey-stuffeys for you guys. Thank you so much for staying with me for…what, 15 chapter already!? Thanks! R&R please!**

After all had settled down as much as it possibly could and he got his crew back to their stations, Lard Nar gave the two a quick, simple test of brains and brawn, in which they excelled. He knew he definitely made the right decision in letting them join. Lard Nar had allowed them to keep their ship as part of the fleet. A smaller ship that he could send to spy or annihilate an Irken base was helpful, if anything necessary. He had a few guns fitted to it and met with the ship's AI, which was fairly pleasing. Lard Nar had now gathered most of the crew into the meeting/dining room with the U shaped table to talk and eat with them, a celebration of sorts, for finally finding some good crew members. Of course, he just told him it was to welcome the newcomers. He had learned over the course of several years how to make different species' food choices, which he now displayed proudly as everyone ate what they could.

They also drank to their hearts content, which was not exactly a good idea, since his crew isn't the best crew under the influence, but he decided just to let loose tonight.

"This is amazing," Dib said while he happily slurped up spaghetti and drank his beer. "I haven't had this good a meal in forever. I think I've found my life partner." he joked and everyone laughed. But Zim gave a sarcastic laugh.

"With _THAT_ Voration? He'd be as useless as a window made of concrete." Zim said, making everyone look at him questioningly.

"I dunno, Zim." Lard Nar said defensively. "I've heard I can be pretty great in the room." he winked and chuckled.

"Feh, not as good as me." Zim mumbled and glanced to the wall.

"Huh, maybe we'll have to schedule a duel." the Voration said and took another swig of the bitter warmth from his bottle.

"Hey! I've already got the two o' clock!" a crew member yelled and everyone burst out in laughter and whooping. Dib giggled and wiped a tear from his eye as the laughter continued, more people continued cracking dirty jokes about their captain. Lard Nar tried to defend himself, but ended up roaring in laughter as well.

Dib glanced over at the Irken beside him, noticing how the pink-eyed alien was acting since he had spoke. Zim looked annoyed, timid, and wasn't touching his food or laughing at all.

_Did he get jealous?_ Dib wondered to himself in disbelief and amusement.

He nugged Zim's shoulder lightly. "Hey," he chuckled. "Something wrong?" Zim shot a look at him and turned away again. "Nothing is wong with ZIM. Do not touch me." for some reason Dib didn't think nothing was wrong with Zim. Perhaps it was all the noise, the people, all the bodies in the room. Maybe he wasn't used to all the company, maybe he didn't like it. Dib nudged in shoulder again - receiving an angry glare - and this time spoke in a low kind voice, his eyes shone with both concern and pity, as well as something mischievous. "Hey, you want to get out of here?" Zim looked at him with a questioning and suspicious glance but got up from his seat and proceeded to walk out without a word, which obviously meant yes. Dib thanked Lard Nar for the food and walked out of the loud room to catch up with Zim, trying not to trip over himself. He'd obviously had a bit too much to drink to stand without feeling off-kilter.

Zim stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall with the same angry expression on his face that he walked out with. The beer in Dib's belly made him warm and happy and he wanted the same for Zim, but it just wasn't working. He walked over to the lone alien and tilted his head curiously at him, noticing how nice and smooth and flawless his skin was. He'd never noticed that before.

"What?" Zim growled.

Dib suddenly felt the urge to touch Zim's antennae. The long, black stalks begged for attention, and that's exactly what Dib would give them.

Before Dib had enough time to reach out for them, though, Zim turned and started to walk down the stairs to the first floor. "Do not follow ZIM, idiot. You're drunk."

It was true, Dib's mind was slipping, but not so much as he couldn't think. He was just really happy, and he wanted to spread it all over the place. So he followed Zim in a slow pursuit, all the way back onto his ship, admiring Zim's figure and posture over the _"klink klink klink"_ of his metallic leg.

"Ziiiim." Dib cooed at the alien who was now sitting down in one of the two chairs surrounding the glass table in his ship.

"Oh Tallest…" he knew that dumb voice Dib was using and did not want to face the actions of last time again. "I haven't given you any Irken painkillers…right?" he growled and looked around as if he'd find one he used.

Dib walked behind Zim's chair and dangled a vile of sugar in front if his face. His pink orbs followed the sugar intently as it sway back and forth on the string.

"Do you want some?" Dib asked. A smile spread across his face when Zim grabbed it from his hand.

There were those gorgeous black feelers again, twitching around as Zim devoured the sugar. Dib's pale fingers gently grabbed one of them, making Zim go tense with shock and surprise, then he stroked it with the side of his finger ever-so-lightly touching it as if the appendage was a delicate butterfly.

Zim tried to growl at the human but was continuously cut off by himself. He gripped the sides of the chair in anger, wanting to move away, but his body wouldn't let him.

"Oh Zim…" Dib purred, leaning down closer, stroking a little more deliberately. "Your antennae are so _beautiful_." he hummed to the green Irken below him. Zim jolted, hearing the compliment.

Dib knew forcing Zim to do anything, or trying to take the upper hand, would lead to nowhere but a scolding and possibly a beating. But flattery would definitely take him a bit farther in the better direction. Dib guessed it was probably the beer making decisions, but he wanted Zim all to himself right now. He wanted him in more ways than one.

"Your skin, Zim…it's far more superior than any skin I've ever seen." Dib said softly. "_It's perfect._"

A loud, low purr erupted from Zim's throat that was not meant to escape, which excited Dib further, making his free hand go to the other antennae, which in turn sent another wave of ecstasy through Zim. The high Zim was getting from the touching was messing with his brain. He wanted to be angry, he wanted to kill Dib for touching him without authorization, but he didn't want Dib to stop either. He was trying hard to keep his place, hold in the purrs, scream at Dib. But alas, he could not. His purrs now flowed freely and rhythmically with his quickening breaths. "Dib," he sighed with an involuntary moan. He'd meant for that to be menacing.

"Zim," Dib sighed back as he rested his forehead on Zim's head. _No no no_, Zim's mind said. _Yes yes yes_, his body argued back.

Dib's hands experimented with the appendages in them, seeing what made Zim tick as he continued to flatter Zim. "Your eyes are so gorgeous. They are the most wonderful things I have ever looked at." For a second his foggy brain let a thought break through: They would both probably regret this. That, and Zim would kill him in his sleep…or during the day - whichever came first. But it was pushed away swiftly when another one of Zim's moans filled his ears.

"Oh God, Zim. Let me pleasure you, please. Let me make you feel good." Dib begged. He needed attention, his jeans started to make him uncomfortable. "You deserve to feel good, Zim." he said to the alien. And when he thought about it, all of the things he was saying to Zim were true. As much as it scared him to acknowledge, Zim had always been his obsession, his everything. Zim was what woke him up in the morning, what drove him to go to Skool, what helped him keep believing in himself - even though everyone else had given up in him. After 10 years of going through practically everything together, Dib realized that he did love Zim. He loved him very much.

_"You deserve to feel good, Zim."_ rang in Zim's head as the pleasure waves crashed on him from Dib's hands, the human's breath warmed and prickled the back of his neck_. Of course I deserve to feel good!_ he thought. But he also thought about how no one had ever said anything more than "You deserve to** die**, Zim." (Thank you, Tallest Red), and all the compliments…Of course they were true! But no one had ever acknowledged them. This could be a trick or a trap, he was almost convinced it was, but his own needs were rising as well, making his brain shut down further. The desire to mate was encoded in the very atoms of living organisms, and this was something the Control Brains could not thread out, although they could control the individual's feelings. But Zim was not under the foot of the Control Brains. He could do anything he damn well pleased. And heck, why shouldn't he feel good? he thought as he groped the arms of the chair he was sitting in, purring the loudest he could. He was the most deserving out of anyone in the entire universe to feel good! He was ZIM!

So with a rebellious mindset on the high of Dib's touching and the sugar he just consumed, he accepted the human's advances. He nuzzled into the human's soft, black hair while he was being carried on his shoulder, an abundance of foreign emotion stirred inside his chest. Feelings he didn't know he had sewed and budded in his heart. Even so, he decided that this would be the _only_ and _last_ time he ever showed this kind of affection to Dib.

"Shut your food hole, Dib-stink, you're drunk." Zim mumbled happily into Dib's mess of hair. He was rambling on about how perfect and in fact, he loved the pampering, uplifting praise he was receiving. This was the happiest Zim had ever been, and they hadn't even started the pleasure making yet.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: The next chapter will be the last! Wrapped up and complete, please stay tuned!**

Dib woke up very happy. Sore and wounded with a slight headache from the drinking that evening, but happy. He rolled over in his empty bed and smiled at the memories of the night. The noises, the feeling, all of it was wonderful. Except for when Zim came down from the sex high afterward. Dib cradled his still tender cheek with his hand. The Irken had turned right back into his usual self, which Dib didn't mind, but when he wanted to cuddle afterward the Irken socked him in the jaw and left. Ah, young love...or whatever you'd call it. Dib wondered many times that night if Zim genuinely loved him back.

The bond between the two had been made clear by their actions, although it probably was not the best idea and Dib was a little scared of going to the hull of his ship and seeing Zim, God knows what that alien would do to him now. Scoop his eyes out, saw off his other leg, something Zim-y and brutal.

He stepped into the bathroom and examined himself. He had a light bruise on his face - from the punch, and several vertical cuts down his arms and back. Those claws of his had hurt quite a bit, but the marks they left seemed to be healing fine. Dib took a shower in a good mood, got dressed in a good mood, wondered why his lightning-bolt shaped hair always stuck up even when wet in a good mood, and went down the elevator in a good mood. What he saw brought a smile to his face.

There was Zim, his head propped up on the arm of the couch, sleeping. Minimoose was hugging GIR's head, who was asleep on top of back of the chair. Dib guessed Zim had let them out of containment. It was so cute.

_'Don't ever sleep' my ass_, Dib laughed inwardly. He quietly, carefully with his right leg, walked over to Zim and petted his sleeping head. His antennae stirred slightly, then rested against his skull again. Dib would forever view Zim differently after that night.

He left Zim in peace and made his way to Lard Nar's ship, where everyone was awake and hustling and bustling like always. Dib walked up the steps to the meeting room, since that us where Lard Nar usually was, and he walked in.

"I said there has to be macaroni! Why did you get **bees**!?" he slammed his fist down on the table at a few of the crew members and they jumped. Lard Nar noticed Dib standing in the doorway and regained his posture. "Ah, good morning Dib. Where's Zim?" He said with a warm smile. "Good morning. He's sleeping." Dib replied, returning the grin. "I thought Irkens didn't sleep…?" he wondered out loud to Dib. Dib laughed with an "Oh, they do." and his pinks turned a faint pink. Lard Nar didn't really catch on to what Dib was implying, but he decided it wasn't important.

"Dib, I have an assignment for you and Zim. You up to it?"

"Of course!" Dib said excitedly.

"All right. It's nothing extreme for your first time, so don't expect much action…" Lard Bar briefed Dib on their mission and dismissed him. They were to simply spy on an Irken base on a planet a few clicks away and see if their position was compromised. The Irkens had been steadily swallowing up the galaxy, edging closer to the Resisty's home ship. It wasn't exactly necessary, but more of a "Lets see how you handle a simple task" kind of thing. Dib thanked Lard Nar anyway, and turned out of the room.

"How are we supposed to save the pink-assed antelope now!?" Dib heard his leader continue to yell to the crew members as he left.

_Pink-assed antelope?_ He wondered.

Before Dib could go down the stairs, he spotted Zim walk in on the base floor. He walked just how he did everywhere: head tilted up, back straight, hands folded behind him. But he seemed a little more relaxed than he usually was - probably because of last night. Warily, Dib approached Zim.

"Hey." he said.

"Hello, Dib-monkey."

"What happened to just 'Dib'? I liked that."

"Hm, Zim does not _care_ what you like, _hyooman_."

"Well, anyway, Lard Nar gave us a mission. It's simple enough."

"Finally that dumb Voration gets off his lazy ass and does something."

The conversation carried on normally. Dib told him what they had to do and Zim took the news disdainfully, he was certain they were ready for far more advanced things. Nothing had changed between the two thus far, and Dib was grateful for it. It'd be awkward otherwise. Dib didn't handle awkward very well.

He reminisced of the day in Skool when a girl actually asked him out. It came as a total shock, since most people usually avoided him, and since he had almost no practice in human interaction, he found this extremely awkward. He stared at her for several seconds without breathing, then when he tried to say something he choked on air and fell out of his seat from the coughing fit. Then when he got up she was gone. That girl never spoke to him again.

He also remembered when he finally broke free from that awkwardness and became what some would call a "silver-tongued devil". Yep, he had slept with many a person in those days. Then he mellowed out around 19. Recalling all those partners, he could definitely agree with himself that nothing was as good as Zim. Maybe because he genuinely loved Zim, maybe because he was a weirdo and preferred aliens, maybe because he was a kinky bastard. Whatever it was, he knew for a fact that when those sharp talons raked down his skin and that foreign language mewled in his ears, Zim was the most exciting and enjoyable partner he ever had.

Dib walked back on his ship and was greeted with a painfully strong hug by GIR. "Big-headed guy is back!" he shrieked.

"My head is not big!" Dib said defensively.

"Of course it is." Zim persisted as he pried GIR of the human's chest.

"Shut up,_ space boy_."

"You shut up, **filthy hyooman!**"

"Short!"

"Ugly pig-nosed diaper baby! **ZIM IS NOT SHORT**."

"Zim is short!"

"**NO**."

"YES."

Yep, not much had changed - spare the fact that most of their fights were no longer genuine. But Zim really did get upset when Did called him short, it hurt his prideful ego. He folded his arms across his chest and growled angrily at Dib.

"Awww, I'm sorry." Dib laughed and went over to hug Zim, but the alien wiggled out of his grasp.

"Just because you are my mate does not give you the authority to _touch ZIM_! You should be extremely _thankful_ you even get to _be_ in the_** ALMIGHTY ZIM'S presence**_!" He loudly proclaimed.

"Y-Your mate?" Dib asked quietly. So Zim _did_ acknowledge what they had done last night as something more than a drunk, feel good mess up…

"Yes, idiot. We _mated_. So you are Zim's _mate_? You should be **absolutely** honored." he sniffed and turned his head in a superior manner.

Dib really liked the sound of being Zim's 'mate' - even if Zim was an annoying prick sometimes.

"I am honored, Zim." he said, getting on his knees and dipping his head into somewhat if a bow. "Really. Thank you for accepting me."

Dib couldn't help but feel good when the Irkens mouth turned up in a pleased smile at the sight of Dib on his knees, bowing, respecting his authority.

"Rise, my idiot peasant, we have a mission to accomplish!" Dib rolled his eyes at the ' idiot peasant' bit and stood as Zim instructed, and followed the short, green alien to the pilot's chair.

**A/N: No, I did not go into detail about their night. This is T for teen, people! Look at some M rated stuff! (By the way, I'm currently writing one.) R&R!**


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